假马齿苋 jia ma chi xian

Lysimachia monnieri Linnaeus, Cent. Pl. II 9. 1756; Bacopa monnieria (Linnaeus) Wettstein; Gratiola monnieri (Linnaeus) Linnaeus.

Stems creeping, rooting at nodes, succulent, glabrous. Leaves sessile, oblong-oblanceolate, 0.8-2 cm X 3-6 mm, margin entire or rarely dentate, apex rounded. Flowers axillary. Pedicel 0.5-3.5 cm. Bracteoles 2, linear, below calyx. Sepals 5, ca. 5 mm; lower and upper sepals ovate-lanceolate; lateral 2 sepals lanceolate to linear. Corolla blue, purple, or white, 8-10 mm, obscurely 2-lipped. Stamens didynamous. Stigma capitate. Capsule narrowly ovoid, enveloped in persistent calyx, apex acute. Seeds yellow-brown, ellipsoid, truncate at one end, longitudinally striate. Fl. May-Oct.

By water, wet places, sandy beaches; below 1100 m. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Taiwan, Yunnan [widespread in tropics and subtropics].

For a discussion on the nomenclature of the species, see Philcox (Kew Bull. 33: 679-680. 1979).