木茎蛇根草 mu jing she gen cao

Subshrubs, erect, to 50 cm tall; stems weakly 4-angled to terete, glabrous except with 2 pilosulous to hirtellous lines. Leaves in subequal pairs; petiole 0.6-2 cm, glabrous or villosulous; blade drying papery or submembranous, adaxially olive-green, pale abaxially, lanceolate or narrowly lanceolate, 5-11 × 1-2 cm, glabrous on both surfaces or sometimes pilosulous along principal veins abaxially, base long cuneate, margins entire, apex acuminate; secondary veins 8 or 9 pairs; stipules caducous, not seen. Inflorescence cymose to somewhat congested-cymose, many flowered, 3-4.5 cm, subferruginous pilosulous; peduncle 1-2 cm; axes helicoid, up to 1 cm; bracteoles ensiform-linear or linear and acuminate, 1.5-3 mm. Flowers with biology unknown, subsessile or on pedicels to 1 mm. Calyx hispidulous; hypanthium compressed turbinate, ca. 1.3 mm, 5-ribbed; lobes ovate-triangular, 0.5-0.7 mm, usually with 1 gland in each sinus. Corolla purple, subtubular, glabrous outside, inside with white villous ring in upper part of tube and onto lobes; tube 10-11 mm; lobes broadly ovate or oblong-ovate, ca. 3 mm. Capsules unknown. Fl. Apr.

Forests; ca. 1100 m. Yunnan (Malipo) [Myanmar].

The protologue reported this species only from Myanmar, at ca. 1200 m, and did not detail the position of the anthers but did describe the style as long enough to position the stigmas in the corolla throat; H. S. Lo (in FRPS 71(1): 152-153, t. 37, f. 4. 1999) described and illustrated the anthers as positioned near the middle of the corolla tube. Thus, the flowers described resemble the long-styled flowers of distylous species; none of these authors have posited the floral biology of this species.