中华耳草 zhong hua er cao

Herbs or subshrubs, presumably perennial, erect, to 80(-100) cm tall; stems glabrous, 4-angled, angles sharp to winged, wings to 2 mm wide. Leaves sessile or subsessile; blade drying papery to membranous, purple on midrib at least when young, elliptic-oblong, lanceolate, or oblanceolate, 15-25 × 3-6 cm, glabrous, base obtuse to rounded or truncate, apex acute to long acuminate; secondary veins 7 or 8 pairs, hardly visible; stipules apparently fused shortly around stem, broadly triangular, 4-12 mm, glabrous, with 2 winged flanges 1-2 mm wide extending from each petiole base up to apex, acute to acuminate, entire, sparsely glandular-serrate, or with 1 to numerous bristles 0.1-2 mm, gland-tipped. Inflorescence axillary, congested-cymose to shortly paniculate or subglomerulate, 1.5-3.5 cm, glabrous, subsessile to pedunculate; peduncles to 2 cm; bracts linear-lanceolate, lanceolate, or narrowly elliptic, 1-12 mm; pedicels to 1.5 mm. Flowers subsessile to pedicellate, ?apparently distylous. Calyx glabrous; hypanthium turbinate, 1-1.3 mm; limb deeply lobed; lobes narrowly triangular to spatulate, 2-3 mm, sometimes slightly unequal. Corolla white or pale green, funnelform to tubular-funnelform, outside glabrous; tube 6-9 mm, bearded in throat; lobes spatulate-oblong, 2.5-4 mm. Anthers exserted, 1-1.5 mm. Stigma ca. 1.5 mm, included, positioned just above middle of corolla tube. Fruit capsular, subglobose to ovoid, 2-3 × 1.5-2 mm, septicidal then loculicidal, papery, glabrous; seeds 4-6, blackish brown, angled, papillose. Fl. and fr. almost year-round, often simultaneously.

● On wet soil in valleys and ravines; ca. 500 m. Hainan.

The specimen H. Y. Liang 54367 (NY, Web!) was annotated as "Hedyotis Liangii Merr. & Chun," but this name was apparently never published.