头九节 tou jiu jie

Cephaelis laui (Merrill & F. P. Metcalf) F. C. How & W. C. Ko.

Shrubs, 1-2 m tall; stems glabrous. Petiole 0.3-0.6 cm, glabrous; leaf blade drying papery, reddish brown, elliptic, elliptic-oblong, or lanceolate, 5-11 × 1.5-3.5 cm, glabrous on both surfaces, base acute to cuneate, margins flat or weakly crisped, apex acute to shortly acuminate; secondary veins 6-8 pairs, not forming a submarginal vein, without domatia; stipules caducous, triangular, interpetiolar or shortly united around stem, 2-5 mm, glabrous, acute. Inflorescences terminal, capitate, glabrous to puberulent, pedunculate; peduncle 1-3.5 cm; heads 1 or rarely 2, hemispherical, 1-2 cm in diam.; outermost bracts connate into a cupuliform involucre 5-6 mm, marginally irregular. Flowers sessile. Calyx with hypanthium portion turbinate, ca. 2 mm, glabrous; limb ca. 2 mm, deeply 5-lobed; lobes narrowly triangular, densely hirsute, ciliate. Corolla white, funnelform, glabrous outside; tube 2-3 mm, densely villous in throat inside; lobes subelliptic to triangular, 1-1.2 mm, apex rostrate. Drupes ellipsoid, oblong-ellipsoid, or narrowly ovoid, 6-8 mm, color not noted; pyrenes longitudinally 4- or 5-ridged. Fl. Jul.

Mountain forests. Hainan (Changjiang, Dongfang) [Vietnam (Poilane 21252 P!)].

The one developed flower seen resembles the long-styled form of distylous Psychotria species (Lau 27455, MO!). Several Vietnam specimens at P clearly belong to P. laui, and this species is here reported from that country as well.