文县楼梯草 wen xian lou ti cao

Herbs perennial, monoecious, ca. 55 cm tall. Stems ascending or erect, branched, glabrous. Leaves alternate; nanophylls absent; stipules lanceolate-subulate, 2-2.8 × 0.4 mm, glabrous, without cystoliths; petiole 0.5-3 mm; leaf blade obliquely oblong, 4.5-11.5 × 1-3.5 cm, papery, major basal lateral veins absent and venation pinnate, abaxial surface sparsely puberulent, adaxial surface sparsely strigillose, cystoliths conspicuous or obscure, dense; base with broader half rounded, margin dentate, apex acuminate. Male inflorescences solitary, simple, 10-13 mm in diam.; peduncle 14-18 mm; receptacle nearly orbicular, 9-12 mm in diam.; bracts connate, bracteoles cymbiform-linear. Female inflorescences solitary, 2-3.5 mm in diam., sessile; receptacle elliptic, ca. 3 × 2 mm; bracts broadly ovate; bracteoles cymbiform. Male flowers 4-merous. Achenes ellipsoid, 5-ribbed. Fl. Jun-Jul.

* Valley forests. Gansu (Wenxian).