屏边蛇根草 ping bian she gen cao

Herbs, ascending; stems drying reddish brown and usually angled, densely reddish brown pilosulous at least when young. Leaves in subequal pairs; petiole 0.5-2.5 cm, densely pilosulous; blade drying thinly papery, oblong-ovate, elliptic, oblong-lanceolate, or ovate, 2-7.5 × 1-3 cm, adaxially sparsely puberulent, abaxially glabrescent to usually densely puberulent on principal veins, base cuneate, margins entire, apex acute to obtuse; secondary veins 5-7 pairs; stipules persistent to deciduous, lanceolate to subovate, ca. 4 mm, entire or sparsely dentate, at base usually with 2 glands, acuminate and sometimes with small globose gland at apex. Inflorescence congested-cymose, several flowered, densely reddish brown pilosulous; peduncles 1-1.5 cm; axes relatively short, helicoid; bracts linear-lanceolate, spatulate, or lanceolate, 5-7 mm, often pinnately veined, subglabrous or ciliate, obtuse to subacute. Flowers with biology unknown, subsessile or on pedicels 1.5-3 mm. Calyx with hypanthium turbinate, ca. 1.5 mm, 5-ribbed, densely pilosulous; lobes lanceolate, subovate, or spatulate, unequal, largest ones 3-6 mm, smallest ones 0.8-3 mm, pinnately veined, ciliate or subglabrous. Corolla dark red, tubular-funnelform, outside 5-winged in upper part in bud and glabrescent; tube 15-17.5 mm, inside with 5 small villous fascicles below throat and just above anthers; lobes subovate to ligulate, 2.5-3 mm, inside densely shortly scaly pubescent, dorsally with broad lunate wing, apex rostrate. Immature capsule obcordate, ca. 2 × 5.5 mm, ferruginous pilosulous. Fl. Jul.

● Streamsides; ca. 1400 m. Yunnan (Pingbian).

This species was keyed by H. S. Lo (loc. cit.: 8, as "qinbienensis") based in part on its persistent, usually discernible stipule, although the accompanying figure there shows no stipules, which suggests these may be deciduous at least sometimes. As shown in the figure in the protologue, the pedicels described there could be considered inflorescence axes producing subsessile flowers by others.