马边楼梯草 ma bian lou ti cao

Herbs perennial, dioecious, 14-24 cm tall. Stems ascending or erect, simple or branched, puberulent. Leaves alternate; nanophylls absent; stipules subulate, ca. 1 × 0.2 mm, glabrous, without cystoliths; petiole 0-1 mm; leaf blade obliquely elliptic, 3.5-5 × 1.5-2 cm, herbaceous, major basal lateral veins absent and venation pinnate, both surfaces glabrous or strigose; cystoliths conspicuous or obscure, dense; base with broader half auriculate, margin crenate, apex acuminate or cuspidate. Male inflorescences solitary, simple, ca. 4 mm in diam.; peduncle 2-9.5 mm; receptacle absent; bracts connate, 2.5-3 mm; bracteoles linear-lanceolate. Male flowers 5-merous. Fl. Nov-Feb.

* Mountain forests or slopes; 1500-1600 m. W Sichuan, SE Yunnan.