柳叶牛膝 liu ye niu xi

Achyranthes bidentata Blume var. longifolia Makino, Bot. Mag. (Tokyo) 12: 51. 1898.

Herbs perennial. Stem green or tinged purple, angulate or quadrangular; branches opposite. Petioles hairy; leaf blade lanceolate or broadly lanceolate, 10-20 × 2-5 cm, apex caudate. Spikes terminal or axillary; rachis white hairy. Flowers dense. Bracteoles reflexed after anthesis, acerose, ca. 3.5 mm, ciliate. Tepals shiny, lanceolate, with a midvein, apex acute. Pseudostaminodes indistinctly dentate at apex. Utricles yellowish brown, shiny, oblong, smooth. Seeds light brown, oblong.

Hillsides; below 1200 m. Guangdong, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Japan, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam].

This species is similar to Achyranthes bidentata, but differs in having leaves lanceolate or broadly so, 10–20 × 2–5 cm, caudate at the apex; bracteoles acerose, ca. 3.5 mm, ciliate at the margin; and pseudostaminodes indistinctly dentate at the apex.