大苞蛇根草 da bao she gen cao

Herbs or subshrubs, weak at base, ascending above, to 70 cm tall; stems subterete, densely villous with trichomes multicellular or sometimes also unicellular. Leaves in unequal pairs; petiole 0.5-2(-3) cm, stout, densely multicellular villous; blade drying thinly papery, gray-black adaxially, reddish or pale abaxially, ovate, broadly ovate, or lanceolate-ovate, larger ones 4-12(-15) × 2-4.5(-6) cm, smaller ones 2-4(-6) × 1.2-2.5 cm, both surfaces glabrescent or multicellular villous on principal veins, base obtuse to cuneate and sometimes shortly decurrent, apex acute; secondary veins 7-10 pairs; stipules caducous, not seen. Inflorescence congested-umbelliform-cymose to subcapitate, 5- to many flowered or rarely 1-flowered, densely multicellular villous; peduncle ca. 0.8 cm; axes reduced; bracts and bracteoles ovate to lanceolate, 10-15 mm, pinnately veined, glabrescent except multicellular ciliate along margin and on dorsal costa. Flowers distylous, subsessile or on stout pedicels to 2 mm. Calyx multicellular villous; hypanthium broadly turbinate, 2-2.3 mm; lobes triangular, 1-1.2 mm. Corolla white or reddened, drying purplish red, funnelform, outside with 5 strigose lines from middle of tube to apices of lobes; tube 22-25 mm, inside with white villous ring above middle; lobes subovate, ca. 5 mm, sometimes weakly reticulate-veined, dorsally narrowly winged. Capsules rhomboid, 4-4.5 × ca. 11 mm, villous. Fl. Nov.

● Wet places in forests; 1200-1500 m. Guangxi (Napo), Yunnan.

The protologue and H. S. Lo in FRPS (71(1): 146. 1999) described this species as distylous, with the anthers borne well above the middle of the corolla tube and the stigmas positioned in the throat in one floral form vs. the anthers positioned near the middle of the corolla tube and the stigmas well exserted in the other.