阴地蛇根草 yin di she gen cao

Herbs, sometimes weak at base, ascending above, to 45(-100) cm tall; stems obtusely 4-angled, drying purple, glabrous or subglabrous. Petiole 1-4 cm, subglabrous; leaf blade drying membranous or thinly papery, adaxially dark green, abaxially pale green or red, ovate, elliptic, or lanceolate, 9-15 × 3-6.5 cm, glabrous on both surfaces or sparsely strigillose adaxially, base cuneate to obtuse, apex long acuminate or cuspidate; secondary veins 10-14 pairs; stipules caducous, not seen. Inflorescences congested-cymose, many flowered, glabrous or reddish brown hirtellous; peduncle 1.5-3 cm; axes helicoid. Flowers reportedly distylous, subsessile or on pedicels to 1 mm. Calyx glabrous; hypanthium submitriform, 1.5-2 mm; lobes with 1 gland in each sinus. Corolla red or purplish red, subtubular, glabrous outside; tube 22-24 mm, white hirsute above middle inside; lobes ovate-triangular, 3(-6) mm. Capsules drying red, mitriform, 10-11 mm wide. Fl. Jun.

Dense forests; 2000-3000 m. Xizang (Mêdog), Yunnan [Myanmar].

H. S. Lo (in FRPS 71(1): 151. 1999) described this species as distylous but described only putatively long-styled flowers, with the anthers positioned just above the middle of the corolla tube and the stigmas apparently positioned just above them.