樱叶楼梯草 ying ye lou ti cao

Elatostema quinquecostatum W. T. Wang.

Herbs perennial, dioecious, 25-35 cm tall. Stems ascending or erect, simple or branched, glabrous. Leaves alternate; nanophylls absent; stipules narrowly ovate to narrowly lanceolate, 4-7 × 1-2.5 mm, glabrous; with cystoliths, petiole absent; leaf blade obliquely oblong, 5-11 × 1.5-4 cm, herbaceous, major basal lateral veins absent and venation pinnate, abaxial surface sparsely strigillose, adaxial surface pilose or glabrescent; cystoliths conspicuous, dense; base with broader half nearly auriculate, margin densely serrate, apex acuminate. Male inflorescences in pairs or solitary, branched, 4-6 mm in diam.; peduncle 3-6 mm; receptacle absent; bracts alternate, narrowly oblong or linear, 2.5-4 mm. Female inflorescences in pairs or solitary, 3.5-6.5 mm in diam., sessile; receptacle 2.5-5.5 mm in diam. Male flowers 4- or 5-merous. Fl. Apr.

* Mountain forests or streamsides; 700-1900 m. Guizhou, S Sichuan, NE Yunnan.