中华山紫茉莉 zhong hua shan zi mo li

Mirabilis himalaica (Edgeworth) Heimerl var. chinensis Heimerl, Notizbl. Bot. Gart. Mus. Berlin-Dahlem 11: 454. 1932.

Herbs annual. Stems ascending or prostrate, many branched, terete, 50-80 cm, sparsely glandular pubescent to glabrescent. Petiole 1-2 cm; leaf blade ovate, 2-6 × 1-5 cm, abaxially hairy, adaxially scabrous, base cordate or rotund, margin pubescent or not obviously denticulate, apex acuminate or acute. Flowers terminal or axillary. Pedicel slender, 1-2.5 cm, densely viscid glandular pubescent. Involucre campanulate, 2.5-5 mm, 5-dentate (teeth triangular), densely viscid glandular pubescent outside. Perianth purple-red or pink, 6-8 mm, apex 5-lobed. Stamens 5, as long as perianth; filaments linear, circinately incurved; anthers ovoid, 2-celled, longitudinally dehiscent. Ovary obconic, glabrous. Style as long as perianth or longer; stigma lobed. Fruit black, ellipsoid or ovoid, ca. 5 mm. Fl. and fr. Aug-Oct.

* Thickets, grasslands, dry and warm river valleys, riversides, rock crevices, rock walls; 700-2700(-3400) m. SW Gansu, S Shaanxi, N Sichuan, Xizang, NW Yunnan.

This species is interesting, being the only Old World representative of an otherwise entirely New World genus. Oxybaphus himalaicus var. himalaicus occurs in N India and usually has four (not five) stamens. Wu Zhengyi (editor’s note) adds that var. himalaicus has also been recorded from S Xizang (in Fl. Xizang).

The roots are used medicinally.