Elatostema pellioniifolium W. T. Wang; E. scabrum (Bentham) A. Haller; Pellionia cephaloidea W. T. Wang; P. scabra subvar. pedunculata Yamamoto; Polychroa scabra (Bentham) Hu.

Subshrubs, usually dioecious. Stems ascending or erect, usually branched, strigose. Leaves alternate; stipules subulate, 1.5-3 × 0.1-0.2 mm; petiole 0.5-2 mm; leaf blade herbaceous, obliquely rhombic-oblanceolate or oblong, 3.2-8.5(-10) × (0.7-)1.3-3.2(-4) cm, major lateral veins asymmetric to almost absent, broader outer half broadly cuneate, rounded or auriculate, margin denticulate, apex acuminate or caudate; cystoliths obscure or conspicuous, dense; nanophyll absent. Staminate inflorescences 0.8-1.5 cm in diam., peduncle 0.5-3.5 cm; staminate flowers: tepals 5, elliptic; stamens 5; rudimentary pistil subulate. Pistillate inflorescences 2-8(-14) mm in diam., peduncle 1-4 mm; pistillate flowers: tepals 4-5. Achenes nearly ellipsoidal, tuberculate. Fl. Mar-Jul.

Valley streamsides or forests; 300-1200 m. S Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, SE Yunnan, Zhejiang [Japan, Vietnam].