益智 yi zhi

Languas oxyphylla (Miquel) Merrill.

Pseudostems 1--3 m. Ligule brownish, 2-cleft, 1--2 cm, rarely longer, membranous, sparsely puberulent; petiole short; leaf blade lanceolate, 25--35 × 3--6 cm, base subrounded, margin hispid, glabrescent, apex attenuate, caudate. Racemes enclosed in bud by a hat-shaped involucral bract deciduous at anthesis; rachis very shortly puberulent. Pedicel 1--2 mm. Calyx tubular, ca. 1.2 cm, split to middle on 1 side, abaxially pubescent, apex 3-toothed. Corolla tube 8--10 mm; lobes oblong, ca. 1.8 cm, central one white, wider than lateral ones, abaxially sparsely puberulent. Lateral staminodes subulate, ca. 2 mm. Labellum white with red stripes, obovate, ca. 2 cm, apical margin crisped. Filament ca. 1.2 cm; anther ca. 7 mm. Ovary densely tomentose. Capsule globose when fresh, fusiform when dry, 1.5--2 × ca. 1 cm, with elevated, vascular stripes, pubescent, apex with persistent calyx. Seeds irregularly oblate; aril brownish. Fl. Mar--May, fr. Apr--Sep. 2 n = 48*.

* Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Yunnan.

Both wild and cultivated plants are used for medicine.