白接骨 bai jie gu

Ruellia neesiana Wallich, Pl. Asiat. Rar. 1: 73. 1831; Asystasia chinensis S. Moore; Asystasiella chinensis (S. Moore) E. Hossain; A. neesiana (Wallich) Lindau.

Herbs to 1 m tall. Stems 4-angled, sulcate, 2-fariously puberulent to subglabrous. Petioles 0.5-5 cm, glabrous or sparsely pubescent; leaf blade lanceolate to ovate to elliptic to oblong or uppermost sometimes ovate-cordate, 4-25 × 2-11 cm, both surfaces glabrous or slightly pubescent, secondary veins 6-8, base attenuate and decurrent onto petiole (or cordate for uppermost leaves), margin entire to sinuate-crenate to subdentate, apex acuminate. Inflorescences terminal, spikes or racemes, unbranched or with one or more basal branches forming a panicle, 6-15 cm; rachis usually gland-tipped pubescent; bracts and bracteoles triangular, 1-2 × ca. 1 mm, minutely pubescent. Pedicel (0-)1-3 mm. Calyx 4-6.5 mm; lobes linear-lanceolate, usually gland-tipped pubescent. Corolla pink to purplish blue, 4-6 cm, outside gland-tipped pubescent; tube with cylindric basal portion narrow, elongate, 3-4 cm, at least 2 × as long as throat and limb combined; lobes of lower lip ovate, ca. 6 × 8 mm; lobes of upper lip suborbicular, ca. 7 × 7 mm. Stamens with longer pair ca. 5 mm, shorter pair ca. 2 mm; anther thecae subequally inserted. Style 3.6-5.2 cm, glabrous. Capsule 1.8-2.8 cm, gland-tipped pubescent, 4-seeded, basal stalk 1-1.5 cm. Seeds ovate in outline, ca. 4 × 3 mm, compressed. Fl. Jul-Sep, fr. Oct-Jan.

Evergreen broad-leaved forests, moist banks, streamsides, disturbed sites, ditches, trails; 100-1800 m. Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan, Zhejiang [India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam].

Asystasia neesiana is sometimes treated in Asystasiella Lindau, a genus of two species with spheroidal, 4- or 5-porate, and spinulate (vs. prolate-spheroidal to subprolate, 3-colporate, and reticulate) pollen (see K. Ensermu et al., Kew Bull. 47: 669-675. 1992). The generic position of Asystasia neesiana s.l. and some of its relatives has yet to be thoroughly investigated.

This species is used medicinally.