小琉球鳞花草 xiao liu qiu lin hua cao

Ruellia secunda Blanco, Fl. Filip. 495. 1837, not Vahl (1794).

Herbs to 30 cm tall, erect or spreading. Stems 4-angled, subglabrous. Leaves sessile to subsessile; leaf blade ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 1.5-2 × 0.7-1 cm, both surfaces pubescent, base truncate to subcordate, margin entire, apex acute to shortly acuminate. Spikes globose to ovoid, to 1 cm; bracts oblong-lanceolate. Corolla to 6 mm, outside pubescent. Stamens included in corolla tube; thecae ca. 1 mm, pilose at tip. Ovary oblong; style sparingly hirsute. Capsule ca. 4 mm. Seeds subcircular in outline.

Taiwan [Philippines].

No specimens of Lepidagathis secunda have been seen, and published descriptions are inadequate to evaluate the status of either this species or its occurrence in Taiwan. Information above is based entirely on that provided by C. F. Hsieh and T. C. Huang (Fl. Taiwan, ed. 2, 4: 673. 1998).