密苞马蓝 mi bao ma lan

Subshrubs to 2 m tall, slightly anisophyllous. Stems 4-angled, glabrous. Petiole 1-3 cm, sulcate, glabrous; leaf blade elliptic to ovate-elliptic, 8.5-15 × 3.5-7 cm, both surfaces glabrous and densely covered with cystoliths, adaxially blackish when dry, secondary veins 8 or 9 on each side of midvein and prominent, base cuneate to attenuate, margin serrate, apex acuminate. Inflorescences axillary, simple spikes, 1.5-8(-10) × ca. 1.2 cm, very dense; basal sterile bracts ovate-oblong, 3-4 × ca. 1 cm, leathery, abruptly narrowed at middle with a long caudate apex; floral bracts ovate, 2-3 × 0.4-0.6 cm, leathery, persistent, abaxially glabrous, margin minutely ciliolate or glabrous, apex long acuminate; bracteoles ovate, ca. 1 × 0.5 cm, glabrous, densely covered with cystoliths, margin minutely ciliolate, apex acuminate. Flowers imbricate on rachis. Calyx 5-lobed almost to base; lobes broadly lanceolate, 12-15 × 3-4 mm, subequal, basally overlapping, margin minutely ciliolate but otherwise glabrous, apex acuminate. Corolla purple, 3.5-4.8 cm, outside glabrous, inside glabrous except for trichomes retaining style; tube basally cylindric and ca. 2 mm wide for ca. 1 cm then slightly ventricose and gradually widened to ca. 1.5 cm at mouth; lobes ovate, ca. 5 mm, apex rounded. Stamens 4, included; filaments pubescent, shorter pair ca. 2.5 mm, longer pair ca. 6 mm; anther thecae oblong, ca. 3 × 1 mm, glabrous. Ovary sparsely hirsute at tip; style ca. 2.5 cm, slightly hirsute at base and glabrous apically. Capsule fusiform, ca. 1.5 cm, somewhat hirsute on apical part, 4-seeded. Seeds ovate in outline, ca. 3 × 2 mm, densely appressed hairy. Fl. Aug-Sep.

● Forests on limestone hills; 200-300 m. Guangdong, Guangxi.