小喜盐草 xiao xi yan cao

Lemnopsis minor Zollinger, Syst. Verz. 1: 75. 1854; Halophila lemnopsis Miquel, nom. illeg. superfl.; H. ovalis (R. Brown) J. D. Hooker var. minor (Zollinger) Ascherson.

Creeping stems with internodes 1-3 cm; scales transparent, suborbicular or elliptic, 2-4 mm, membranous; lateral shoots scarcely developed. Leaves 1-paired at each node; petiole 0.5-3.5 cm; leaf blade transparent, narrowly elliptic or ovate, 5-12 × 3-5 mm, entire, with 3-8 pairs of cross veins running from midvein to intramarginal veins and diverging from midvein at an angle of 70-90°. Male spathes ovate or suborbicular, ca. 3 mm, keeled; perianth segments transparent, ca. 2.5 mm. Female spathes lanceolate, with a neck at apex, inner one enclosed within outer one; ovary ovoid, 1-2 mm; styles elongated; stigmas 3, 0.6-1.7 cm. Fruit ovoid or globose, 2-4 mm; beak 2-6 mm. Seeds ca. 20, ca. 0.5 mm in diam.

Submerged in shallow seas. Guangdong, Hainan, Taiwan [India, Indonesia (Java), Japan, Malaysia, New Guinea, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam; Africa].