匍匐滨藜 pu fu bin li

Obione koenigii Moquin-Tandon.

Shrubs small, 20-50 cm tall. Stems ducumbent or prostrate, often rooting; branches alternate, light green, sometimes reddish purple, slightly ribbed. Leaves alternate; petiole 1-3 mm; leaf blade obovate to ovate, 1-2 × 0.8-1.5 cm, fleshy, densely gray-green furfuraceous on both surfaces, base broadly cuneate to rounded, margin entire, apex rounded or obtuse. Inflorescences short, leafy spikes on upper branches. Male flower: perianth subulate, 4- or 5-parted; segments obovate, apically inflexed; stamens 4 or 5; filaments flattened, basally united; rudimentary ovary absent. Fruiting bracts connate only near base, triangular to ovate-rhombic, basal central part yellow-white, inflated, corky, each side of midline with an antrorse process, margins irregularly serrate. Utricle compressed ovoid; pericarp membranous. Seed red-brown to black, ca. 1.5 mm. Fr. Dec-Jan.

Open sandy areas on beaches. E Hainan [Afghanistan, India; SE Asia].