西畴楼梯草 xi chou lou ti cao

Herbs perennial, dioecious, 13-30 cm tall. Stems ascending or erect, simple, pubescent. Leaves alternate; nanophylls absent; stipules broadly lanceolate, 2.5-3 × 0.5-1 mm, strigillose along midvein; without cystoliths, petiole 0-1 mm; leaf blade obliquely oblong-obovate or elliptic, 3-7.5 × 1.5-2 cm, herbaceous, major basal lateral veins asymmetric, 1 basal, the other arising above base, abaxial surface puberulent along nerves, adaxial surface sparsely strigillose, cystoliths obscure, dense; base with broader half auriculate, margin denticulate, apex caudate. Female inflorescences solitary, 30-flowered or more, 2.5-5 mm in diam.; peduncle 0-1.5 mm; receptacle 2-3 mm in diam.; bracts connate, narrowly lanceolate; bracteoles spatulate-linear. Achenes ovoid or ellipsoid, 6-ribbed. Fl. May.

* Evergreen broad-leaved forests in limestone mountains; 1300-1400 m. SE Yunnan.