红丝线 hong si xian

Justicia purpurea Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 16. 1753; Hypoestes sinica Miquel; Peristrophe purpurea (Linnaeus) Hochreutiner.

Shrubs or perennial herbs, to 1.5 m tall, spreading to erect. Stems ± 4-angled when young, sulcate, slightly puberulent. Petiole 1-3.5 cm, sparsely pubescent; leaf blade ovate to ovate-elliptic, 5-13 × 1.5-7 cm, abaxially pale green and glabrous, adaxially green and sparsely pubescent or glabrous except for pubescent along veins and on margin, secondary veins 5-8 on each side of midvein, base narrowed and cuneate, margin entire, subundulate, or sinuate-crenate, apex acuminate to acute. Inflorescences of terminal or axillary spikes, 1-3 cm, often arranged in large panicles forming a many-flowered thyrse to 7 cm or of dense cymose clusters in axils of leaves or subleaflike bracts; outer bracteoles connate for more than half their length, forming a 5-8 mm obconic involucre, abaxially glabrous or pubescent; inner bracteoles smaller than and partially adnate to outer pair. Calyx ca. 5 mm, 5-lobed ± halfway to base; lobes equal, margin ciliate. Corolla reddish purple to purple, 2-2.7 cm, outside puberulent; lip in lower position lanceolate, subentire; lip in upper position triangularly obovate. Staminal filaments to 1.2 cm, glabrous. Style glabrous; stigma equally 2-lobed. Capsule oblong-ovoid, 0.7-1 cm, glabrous. Seeds elliptic-ovate in outline, tuberculate. Fl. Sep-Oct, fr. Oct.

Thickets, along trails and roads, evergreen broad-leaved forests, rocky shores; near sea level to 1200 m. Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Taiwan [Laos, Philippines].

Hypoestes purpurea is a medicinal and ornamental plant.