广州耳草 guang zhou er cao

Herbs or subshrubs, erect, perennial, to 60 cm tall; stems subterete, sometimes striate, glabrous. Leaves subsessile to petiolate; petiole to 8 mm, glabrous; blade drying thinly leathery, ovate, oblong-elliptic, narrowly elliptic, or narrowly lanceolate, 3-13 × 0.8-3 cm, glabrous, base acute to cuneate, apex acute to shortly acuminate; secondary veins indistinct; stipules fused to petiole bases, triangular to broadly triangular, 2-5 mm, glabrous, marginally entire to densely glandular serrate, acute to aristate with tip to 4 mm. Inflorescences terminal and in axils of uppermost leaves, cymose, paniculate and pyramidal to narrowly cylindrical or racemiform, 1-15 cm, several to many flowered, glabrous, sessile and tripartite or pedunculate; peduncles 1-4.5 cm; bracts narrowly elliptic to triangular, 0.5-4 mm; pedicels to 1 mm. Flowers sessile to pedicellate, distylous. Calyx glabrous; hypanthium portion subglobose to obconic, 1-1.2 mm; limb 1-2 mm, deeply lobed; lobes triangular to narrowly triangular. Corolla salverform to tubular-funnelform, outside glabrous; tube 2.5-3.5 mm, sparsely barbate in throat; lobes oblong-lanceolate, 2-2.2 mm. Anthers included or exserted, ca. 1.1 mm. Stigmas included or exserted, ca. 0.3 mm when exserted. Fruit capsular, ellipsoid to subglobose, 2-3 mm, septicidally then loculicidally dehiscent, glabrous, cartilaginous to somewhat woody, apex flat or with low rounded beak; seeds several, angled. Fl. Apr-Aug, fr. Jun-Nov.

● Sparse forests; 200-1000 m. Guangdong.

This species as provisionally circumscribed here is similar to Hedyotis matthewii and slightly differently (and more narrowly) than done by W. C. Ko (in FRPS 71(1): 48. 1999).