湖南蛇根草 hu nan she gen cao

Herbs, procumbent at base, to 15 cm tall; stems drying black, subglabrous. Leaves in unequal pairs; petiole 1-3 cm, subglabrous; blade drying papery, purple on veins, obovate or ovate, 6-18 × 3-6.5 cm, adaxially sparsely hirtellous-strigose, abaxially subglabrous or villous on veins, base cuneate, apex obtuse to subacute; secondary veins 10-14 pairs; stipules often persistent, ovate, 6-8 mm, ciliate, acuminate. Inflorescence cymose, many flowered, densely villous, pendulous; peduncle ca. 3 cm, arching; principal axes 2 or 3 pairs, helicoid; bracts linear, 8-15 × 1-1.4 mm, sparsely pinnately veined, sparsely ciliate. Flowers with biology unknown, subsessile. Calyx with hypanthium compressed turbinate, ca. 2 mm, 5-ribbed, densely multicellular villous; lobes linear, 6-7 mm, hispidulous along costa. Corolla in bud with color unknown, 5-winged, wings ciliate. Capsules unknown. Fl. Nov.

● Dense forests in valleys; ca. 400 m. Hunan (Huitong).

In the protologue the anthers and stigmas of the flower buds were described, but these immature structures are not reliable indicators of the size or arrangement of the mature structures.