蛇胆草 she dan cao

Shrublets erect, to 50 cm tall, pubescent or puberulent except for corolla and adaxial leaf surface. Petiole ca. 5 mm, with 4 or 5 glands adaxially; leaf blade ovate-oblong, 2-4 × 0.8-1.2 cm, subleathery, base rounded, apex acute; basal veins 3, lateral veins 1 pair. Inflorescences terminal and extra-axillary, 9-15-flowered, longer than leaves; rachis branched but very contracted so that inflorescences umbel-like; peduncle 1-1.6 cm. Pedicel to 6 mm. Sepals oblong-ovate, ca. 1 × 0.5 mm. Corolla rotate; tube ca. 5 mm; lobes greenish, ovate-oblong, ca. 2.5 × 1 mm. Corona lobes ovoid, apex obtuse. Anthers rhomboid; pollinia subglobose, subhorizontal, caudicles ascending, retinaculum ellipsoid. Stigma head 5-angled, apex apiculate. Fl. Jun-Aug.

* Thickets; low to middle elevations. Guangxi, Hainan