长柱花 chang zhu hua

Crucianella stylosa Trinius, Mém. Acad. Imp. Sci. St. Pétersbourg Hist. Acad. 6: 485. 1818.

Herbs, 20-60(-70) cm tall; branches quadrangular, glabrous to sparsely hairy, at least at nodes and along angles ± retrorsely aculeolate. Leaves drying papery, narrowly lanceolate, narrowly elliptic, or narrowly oblanceolate, 12-30 × 1.5-6 mm, both surfaces glabrous, base acute to attenuate, margin and midrib abaxially thickened and antrorsely aculeolate, apex acute to acuminate with acicular tip; secondary veins not visible. Inflorescences hemispherical to subglobose, 1.5-3 cm wide (not including involucral leaves); bracts leaflike, lanceolate, 8-12 mm, glabrescent, marginally and abaxially spinulose with acute apex. Ovary ellipsoid, ca. 1 mm, glabrous. Corolla glabrous outside; tube 9-12 mm; lobes 5, 1-2 mm, oblong-ovate, apex acute and somewhat thickened. Mericarps oblong-obovate, ca. 1.5 mm. Fl. May-Aug, fr. Aug-Sep.

Cultivated in Shaanxi (Wugong) [native in deciduous forests of SW Asia (Azerbaijan, NW Iran)].