早田氏爵床 zao tian shi jue chuang

Justicia ciliata (Yamamoto) C. F. Hsieh & T. C. Huang (1974), not Jacquin (1762); J. hayatae var. ciliata Yamamoto; J. procumbens Linnaeus var. hayatae (Yamamoto) Ohwi; Rostellularia hayatae (Yamamoto) S. S. Ying; R. procumbens (Linnaeus) Nees var. ciliata (Yamamoto) S. S. Ying.

Herbs 30-50 cm tall. Stems 4-angled, sulcate, bifariously pubescent along sulcae. Petiole 1-9 mm, glabrous; leaf blade ovate, 1.5-3.5 × 0.8-2 cm, glabrous, abaxially pale green and without cystoliths, adaxially green and with numerous cystoliths, secondary veins 3 or 4 on each side of midvein, base attenuate and decurrent onto petiole, margin entire, apex acute. Spikes mostly terminal or axillary at upper leaf axils, 1-4 cm, elongate to 7 cm in fruit; peduncle (0-)0.5-2 cm, glabrous; bracts obovate-elliptic, 4-5 × 2-3 mm, glabrous, margin white, apex acute; bracteoles lanceolate-elliptic, ca. 5 × 1.2 mm. Calyx 4-lobed almost to base; lobes lanceolate, ca. 4 × 1 mm, glabrous, margin white. Corolla ca. 6 mm, glabrous, 2-lipped to half its length; lower lip oblong, ca. 3 × 3 mm, minutely 3-lobed; upper lip ovate, ca. 3 × 2 mm, apex emarginate. Stamens exserted; filaments ca. 2.5 mm, glabrous except for trichomes at base; anther thecae ovoid, ca. 1.3 mm, superposed, lower one spurred at base, upper one muticous. Ovary glabrous; style ca. 6 mm, glabrous. Capsule with a brownish yellow short stipe, oblong, ca. 4 mm, glabrous, 4-seeded. Seeds ovate in outline, ca. 1 mm, rugose, glabrous.

● Seashores, sandy places. Hong Kong, Taiwan.