伏地白珠 fu di bai zhu

Chiogenes suborbicularis (W. W. Smith) Ching ex T. Z. Hsu; C. suborbicularis var. albiflora T. Z. Hsu.

Shrubs dwarf, prostrate. Twigs terete, wiry, shortly tawny-setose. Leaves dense; petiole very short, 0.5–1 mm; leaf blade suborbicular or elliptic, 3–7 × 2–5 mm, leathery, abaxially sparsely shortly setulose, adaxially glabrous, secondary and fine veins inconspicuous, slightly raised abaxially, impressed adaxially, both ends obtuse to rounded, margin recurved, sparsely shortly setulose. Flowers solitary, axillary. Pedicel ca. 1 mm, glabrous; bracts absent; bracteoles 2, apical, broadly ovate, ca. 2 mm, leathery, glabrous. Flowers 4-merous. Calyx tinged with red, ca. 2 mm, glabrous; lobes triangular. Corolla rosy to purplish, sometimes white, 2.5–3 mm, glabrous, lobed to middle; lobes ovate. Filaments elliptic; thecae very short, 2-apiculate. Ovary glabrous. Calyx at fruiting red, fleshy; capsule globose, glabrous. Fl. Jul–Aug, fr. Aug–Oct.

Forest understories, thickets, grassy slopes, rocks; 3000–3900 m. NW Yunnan (Dêqên, Gongshan, Weixi).

The gathering J. F. Rock 8734, from NW Yunnan (“Tseku” and “Tsehching”), has flowers with four, five, or seven stamens.