近革叶楼梯草 jin ge ye lou ti cao

Herbs perennial, monoecious, up to 70 cm tall. Stems ascending or erect, branched, glabrous. Leaves alternate; nanophyll absent; stipules lanceolate, triangular or narrowly elliptic, up to 14 × 3 mm, without cystolith, glabrous; petiole 2-10 mm; leaf blade obliquely elliptic, 6-24 × 3-8 cm, thickly papery to nearly leathery, major basal lateral veins absent and venation pinnate, cystoliths conspicuous, dense; base with broader half rounded, margin dentate or crenate, apex acuminate or caudate. Male inflorescences solitary, simple, up to 1.8 × 1.6 cm, peduncle 2-10 mm; receptacle usually obscure; bracts connate into an oblong involucre, up to 1.6 × 0.6 cm; bracteoles cymbiform. Female inflorescences solitary, up to 12 × 6 mm, sessile or subsessile; receptacle obscure; bracts connate into an oblong involucre, up to 1.6 × 0.6 cm; bracteoles lanceolate. Male flowers 5-merous. Achenes ellipsoidal, ca. 6-ribbed. Fl. Jul-Oct.

* Ravines, moist forests at low elevations. Taiwan (Lan Yu).