小驳骨 xiao bo gu

Gendarussa vulgaris Nees.

Subshrubs 0.7-1.5 cm tall, much branched. Stems subterete, swollen at nodes, glabrous. Petiole 3-10 mm; leaf blade narrowly lanceolate, 6-10 × 1-1.5 cm, glabrous, secondary veins 5-8 on each side of midvein, base cuneate to attenuate, margin subsinuate, apex acute to shortly acuminate. Spikes terminal or axillary, 3-12 cm, interrupted, usually in a leafy panicle; peduncle 0.5-1.5 cm; bracts triangular, 2-6 × 1-2.5 mm, basal ones longer than calyx then gradually smaller with apicalmost ones shorter than calyx, margin ciliate, apex acute; bracteoles elliptic to linear-lanceolate, ca. 3 × 1 mm, margin ciliate, apex acute. Calyx ca. 5 mm, 5-lobed; lobes linear-lanceolate, 3-4 × ca. 0.5 mm, subequal, apex acuminate. Corolla creamy white, 1.2-1.5 cm; tube basally cylindric and ca. 2 mm wide for 8-9 mm; lower lip violet dotted basally, cuneate-obovate, 6-10 mm broad, 3-lobed, lobes oblanceolate and 3-5 × ca. 3.5 mm; upper lip violet blotched, triangular, ca. 7 × 3.5 mm, 2-cleft. Stamens exserted; filaments 3-6 mm, glabrous; anther thecae oblong, ca. 1.2 mm, superposed, lower one spurred at base, upper one muticous. Ovary glabrous; style ca. 1 cm, glabrous; stigma capitate, shortly 2-lobed. Capsule clavate, ca. 1.2 cm. Fl. Jan-Apr. 2n = 28, 30.

Roadsides, thickets. Naturalized or cultivated in Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Taiwan, and Yunnan [native to or naturalized in Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam; widely cultivated].

Justicia gendarussa is native to S and SE Asia but is widely cultivated and naturalized. Its actual native distribution is not certain because it is often not clear whether particular collections are native.