Aeschynanthus acuminatus var. chinensis (Gardner & Champion) C. B. Clarke; A. chinensis Gardner & Champion.

Stems 25-150 cm, glabrous. Leaves opposite; petiole 2-11 mm; leaf blade lanceolate to elliptic or narrowly oblanceolate, rarely oblong, 4.5-12 X 1.4-3(-5) cm, thin papery to leathery, glabrous, adaxially drying smooth, abaxially sparsely punctate, base cuneate to narrowly cuneate, margin entire to shallowly crenulate, apex acuminate; lateral veins indistinct. Cymes axillary or pseudoterminal, 1-3-flowered; peduncle 0.8-3 cm; bracts persistent, reddish, suborbicular, 3-9 X 4-10 mm. Pedicel 7-12 mm, glabrous. Calyx red, 5-sect from base; segments ovate to ovate-oblong or obovate, 2.5-5(-7) X 2-3 mm, outside glabrous. Corolla red, rarely greenish, 1.5-2.2 cm, outside glabrous, inside puberulent at base of abaxial lip, without tufts of hairs, mouth strongly oblique; limb distinctly 2-lipped; adaxial lip erect, ca. 4.5 mm; abaxial lip reflexed, ca. 5 mm. Stamens exserted; filaments 1.2-2.2 cm; anthers coherent in pairs at apex, 1.5-2 mm; staminode 1.2-2 mm. Pistil 1.6-2 cm; ovary glabrous. Style ca. 4 mm, glabrous. Capsule 6.5-16 cm. Seeds with 1 hairlike appendage at each end, appendages 1.5-4 mm. Fl. Oct-Mar, fr. Dec-May.

On trees, streamside rocks in forested valleys; 200-1900 m. Guangdong, Guangxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, SE Xizang, S and SE Yunnan [Bhutan, N India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, N Vietnam].