背蛇生 bei she sheng

?Aristolochia cinnabarina J. L. Wu & Z. L. Yang.

Herbs twining; roots fusiform or globose. Stems angled, glabrous. Petiole 7-10 cm, glabrous; leaf blade cordate, 8-14 × 5-11 cm, both surfaces glabrous, veins palmate, 2-3 pairs from base, base cordate, sinus 1-2.5 cm deep, apex obtuse. Flowers 1-3 per axil. Peduncle ascending, ca. 1.5 cm, glabrous; bractlets ovate, ca. 5 × 6 mm, inserted near base of peduncle. Calyx yellow-green, throat dark purple; tube rectilinear, abaxially glabrous; utricle globose, ca. 5 mm in diam., sessile; tube ca. 9 × 1.5 mm; limb unilateral, ligulate, oblong, ca. 2 × 0.4 cm, apex obtuse or mucronulate. Anthers elliptic, 0.3-0.4 mm. Gynostemium 6-lobed. Capsule obovoid, ca. 3 × 2.5 cm, dehiscing acropetally. Seeds ovoid, ca. 4 × 3 mm. Fl. Nov-Apr, fr. Jun-Oct.

* Thickets, valleys, limestone mountain slopes; 100-1600 m. Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Yunnan.

Aristolochia cinnabarina is included here on the basis of the protologue; further research is needed to clarify its position and status.

The tuber is used medicinally, known as 珠砂莲 (zhu sha lian); the species is also used for treating snake bites.