直立蜂斗草 zhi li feng dou cao

Sonerila cheliensis H. L. Li; S. epilobioides Stapf & King; S. shanlinensis C. Chen; S. tenera Royle.

Herbs 5-18 cm tall. Stems slender, almost 4-sided, alate, with sparse spreading glandular trichomes. Petiole 4-15 mm, glandular pilose, faintly narrowly alate; leaf blade narrowly elliptic to ovate, (0.5-)1-2.5(-3) × (0.3-)0.4-1.6(-2) cm, membranous, abaxially scattered hirsute, glabrous, or furfuraceous, adaxially sparsely hirsute, secondary veins 2-3 on each side of midvein, base cuneate, margin serrulate with each tooth having a terminal seta, apex shortly acuminate. Inflorescences terminal, scorpioid cymes, 1-5(-11)-flowered, 1-4.5 cm, with spreading glandular trichomes; peduncle 0.8-2 cm. Pedicel 2-7 mm, sub 3 sided, with scattered glandular trichomes. Hypanthium tubular, 4-5 mm, to 1.7 mm in diam., almost 3-sided, 6-ribbed, usually with sparse glandular trichomes on ribs. Calyx lobes broadly ovate-triangular, ca. 0.5 mm, apex apiculate. Petals pink to purple, oblong-elliptic, 3-3.5 mm, oblique, with sparse glandular trichomes on ridge, apex acute. Stamens 3, subequal; filaments as long as anthers; anthers broadly ovate, 1.8-2 mm, base forked. Ovary flask-shaped, membranous crown 3-lobed. Capsule tubular, 4-7 × ca. 2 mm, 3-sided; hypanthium sparsely glandular pilose, 6-ribbed. Fl. Jul-Oct, fr. Oct-Dec.

Pinus woodlands, forest margins, limestone hillsides, bamboo thickets, grassy areas, grasslands, trailsides; 500-1800 m. Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangxi, Yunnan [N India, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam].

In Chinese herbaria the name Sonerila epilobioides has often been misapplied to specimens of S. maculata.