疏花无叶莲 shu hua wu ye lian

Miyoshia sakuraii Makino, Bot. Mag. (Tokyo) 17: 145. 1903; Protolirion miyoshia-sakuraii Makino, nom. illeg. (included M. sakuraii); Protolirion sakuraii (Makino) Dandy.

Herbs pale yellow, (7--)11--28 cm tall, glabrous. Rhizome ca. 2 mm thick. Stems slender, 1 or 2 arising from rhizome. Scalelike leaves rather lax, particularly in apical part of stem, usually 1--2 cm apart, narrowly to broadly ovate, 2--4(--5) mm, membranous, 1-veined. Inflorescence a raceme, sometimes ± corymbose, 2--8.5 cm, to more than 10-flowered; bracts lanceolate to ovate, 2--3 mm, slightly shorter than pedicel. Pedicel 3--5 mm, bracteolate in proximal part or near base. Flowers small. Perianth adnate for ca. 1/3 its length to ovary; segments ovate-deltoid, 1-veined, outer ones 0.8(--1) × ca. 1 mm, inner ones (1.5--)2 × ca. 2 mm. Stamens ca. 1 mm; anthers ovate. Ovary broadly ovoid, 3-partite. Capsule ca. 3 × 3 mm. Seeds dark brown, ellipsoid, 0.3--0.4(--0.5) mm, longitudinally striate; testa white, elongate, membranous. Fl. Jul--Aug, fr. Oct. 2 n = 60.

Mixed forests, bamboo forests; near sea level to 1700 m. Guangxi, SE Sichuan, Taiwan [Indonesia (N Sumatra), Japan, Myanmar, Vietnam].