Elatostema gagnepainianum H. Schroeter; Pellionia procropioides Gagnepain; Procris wightiana Wallich ex Weddell, nom. illeg. superfl.

Herbs perennial or subshrubs, epiphytic or epilithic. 30-80 cm tall. Stems branched or simple, somewhat woody basally, succulent, many striate, glabrous. Leaves often on upper stems or branches, glabrous; stipules deciduous, ovate, very small; petiole 1.5-12 mm; leaf blade narrowly oblong, elliptic, or oblanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, 8-20 × 2.2-4.5 cm, membranous or herbaceous, lateral veins 5-8 pairs, base attenuate or narrowly cuneate, margin crenate-serrate or undulate distally, apex acuminate; cystoliths slightly conspicuous or inconspicuous. Male inflorescences proximal to female ones, clusters often on leafless nodes, short and thinly pedunculate; female inflorescence an axillary cluster of 1-7 heads, each on a short and thick peduncle or sessile, globose, 2-4 mm in diam.; bracteoles obovate or elliptic, ca. 0.4 mm, glabrous. Male flowers 5-merous; perianth lobes oblong or ovate, ca. 1.5 mm, corniculate below apex. Female flowers sessile; perianth lobes often 4, ca. 3.5 mm, glabrous. Ovary ellipsoid, ca. 0.3 mm. Achene narrowly ovoid, compressed, 0.6-0.8 mm, often minutely punctate. Fl. Jul-Aug, fr. Aug-Oct.

Shady, moist places in forests, mossy rocks, tree trunks, along streams; 300-2000 m. S Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, SW Guizhou, S Sichuan, Taiwan, S Xizang, SW Yunnan [Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam; Africa].