金塔柽柳 jin ta cheng liu

Shrubs, 1-3(-4) m tall. Branchlets of current year deep red or deep purple-red. Leaves of vegetative branches lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate to triangular-ovate, ca. 1.5 mm, base decurrent, semiamplexicaul, apex acuminate to acute, incurved. Racemes terminal, 3-5 cm × ca. 5 mm; bracts broadly ovate, exceeding pedicels. Flowers 5-merous. Sepals 5, deep green, short, ca. 1 mm, less than 1/2 as long as petals, margin membranous, semipellucid. Corolla semispreading; petals 5, deep red or purple-red, oblong-ovate, ca. 1.5 mm, persistent. Disk purple-red, thick, fleshy, 5-lobed. Stamens 5; filaments filiform, inserted at apex of disk lobes; anthers cordate, apex often apiculate. Ovary bottle-shaped; styles 3. Capsule triangular-conic, ca. 0.6 mm; seeds black-purple, ca. 0.5 mm. Fl. Sep-Oct.

● Riversides, lakesides, sandy lowlands. Gansu (Jinta).