台湾明萼草 tai wan ming e cao

Herbs 30-50 cm tall. Stems prostrate and rooting at nodes on basal portion, bifariously hirsute. Petiole 1-3 cm, pubescent; leaf blade ovate-oblong to oblong-lanceolate, 2.5-8 × 2.1-3.5 cm, membranous, glabrous, secondary veins 4-7 on each side of midvein, base cuneate to attenuate, margin entire or slightly undulate, apex acuminate. Spikes terminal or axillary, to 4 cm, often solitary; peduncle 1-2 cm; bracts 4-ranked; sterile bracts oblong-lanceolate, 8-9 × 2-3 mm, hyaline margin narrow and ciliate; fertile bracts ovate to ovate-lanceolate, hyaline margin broad and ciliate; bracteoles ovate, ca. 6 × 3.5 mm. Calyx ca. 5 mm, 5-lobed almost to base; lobes lanceolate. Corolla blue, ca. 1.5 cm, outside slightly gland-tipped pubescent; throat ca. 3 mm; lower lip 3-lobed; upper lip broad. Stamens exserted; filaments ca. 5 mm, glabrous. Ovary glabrous; style ca. 1 cm, glabrous. Capsule ovoid, ca. 6 mm. Seeds suborbicular, ca. 1.5 × 1.5 mm, minutely tuberculate.

● Thickets, streamsides; 1000-1500 m. Taiwan.