绵刺属 mian ci shu

Li Chaoluan (Li Chao-luang); Hiroshi Ikeda, Hideaki Ohba

Shrublets with thick, subterranean stock. Stems much branched; branchlets spinelike. Stipules adnate to petiole, ovate, hyaline; petiole hard, persistent, spinelike; leaf blade (1 or)3- or palmately 5-foliolate; leaflets minute. Flowers solitary, axillary, bracteate, bisexual, minute. Hypanthium funnelform. Sepals 3, deltoid, persistent. Petals 3, ovate, scarcely larger than sepals, deciduous. Stamens 3, opposite petals; filaments shorter than petals, inserted at glabrous margin of swollen disk; anthers dorsifixed, not exserted, introrse, ovoid. Carpel 1, central, ovoid; ovule inserted laterally next to style, ascending; style basal, persistent; stigma capitate. Achene cylindric. Seed cylindric, thickened proximally.

One species: China, Mongolia.

Lower Taxon

• Potaninia mongolica Maximowicz