裂序楼梯草 lie xu lou ti cao

Herbs perennial, dioecious, 20-30 cm tall, glabrous. Stems ascending or erect, simple or rarely branched. Leaves alternate; nanophylls absent; stipules subulate, 5 × 0.1-0.2 mm, with cystoliths; petiole 0-2.5 mm; leaf blade obliquely elliptic or elliptic-obovate, 7-13 × 3-5 cm, papery, major basal lateral veins absent and venation pinnate, cystoliths conspicuous, dense; base with broader half broadly cuneate, margin dentate or denticulate, apex acuminate. Female inflorescences in pairs, 4-5 mm in diam.; peduncle 0.5-1 mm; receptacle 2- or 3-lobed, ca. 2 × 1 mm; bracts lanceolate-linear; bracteoles linear. Achenes ovoid, 10-ribbed. Fl. Jan-Feb.

* Forests, streamsides, shaded moist areas; 100-1300 m. E Guangxi, N Guizhou, S Hunan, S Sichuan, SE Yunnan.

This species is used medicinally.