矮刺苏属 ai ci su shu

Herbs annual, subglabrous. Leaves petiolate, subulate-serrate, teeth spinescent. Verticillasters 2-6-flowered, widely spaced basally, crowded apically; bracts subulate. Calyx tubular-campanulate, 10- or 11-veined, dilated in fruit, upper lip 3-toothed, lower lip 2-toothed; teeth triangular, apex subulate-acuminate. Corolla tube slender, much exserted; upper lip straight; lower lip shorter, spreading, 3-lobed; lobes subequal, obovate. Stamens 4, anterior 2 longer; filaments inserted on corolla throat, shorter than upper corolla lip; anthers oblong, cells 2, divaricate. Style apex subequally 2-cleft, lobes subulate. Nutlets black, oblong, smooth, sometimes scaly spotted, narrowly membranous winged.

Monotypic: Afghanistan, China, Kazakhstan, Russia, Tajikstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan; SW Asia.

Lower Taxon

• Chamaesphacos ilicifolius Schrenk ex Fischer & C. A. Meyer