大序锥头麻 da xu zhui tou ma

Conocephalus naucleiflorus Roxburgh ex Lindley, Bot. Reg. 14: t. 1203 A & B. 1829; Urtica naucleiflora Roxburgh.

Branchlets gray-brown when dry; stipular and petiolar scars very prominent, pubescent, soon glabrous. Stipules caducous, straight, 1-2 cm; petiole 6-10 cm, glabrous; leaf blade broadly ovate or elliptic, 10-22 × 7-15 cm, lateral veins 10-13 pairs, both surfaces glabrous, base rounded or cordate, apex obtuse or acute. Male inflorescences dichotomously branched 5-6 times, 4-7 × 4-8 cm; bracts ca. 8 mm; glomerules 4-6 mm in diam. Female inflorescences dichotomously branched 5-6 times, 5-7 × 6-8 cm; bracts as males; glomerules 1-1.3 cm in diam., 1.2-1.8 cm in diam. in fruit. Male flowers sessile, obovoid, 1-2 mm; perianth lobes 4, pubescent; stamens 4; filaments straight, short. Female flowers pedicellate, ca. 2 mm; stigma shortly ligulate. Achene oblong-obovoid, ca. 2 mm, verrucose. Fl. Mar-May, fr. May-Jul.

Monsoon forests, near streams; ca. 1600 m. SE Xizang (Mêdog) [NE India, Myanmar, Thailand].

This species is here newly recorded for China. The name was incorrectly recorded as “Conocephalus naucleiformis” in Index Kewensis and this error has been repeated by various authors.