RUBINA AKHTER

Erect shrub up to 4 m high, minutely pubescent with hollow branches. Leaves c. 2.5 x 1.5 cm, ovate-elliptic, obtuse or slightly acute, base cuneate or rounded, pubescent-glabrescent on both surfaces. Flowers in axillary pairs on thin slender peduncles 1-3 cm long, pubescent. Bracts thin, narrow, carious, equal to the length of ovary or less. Bracteoles free, triangular, 1/3 the length of ovary, ciliate. Calyx lobes 5, linear-lanceolate, ciliate. Corolla c. 16-18 mm long, hairy or glabrous, tube subgibbous at the base, upper lip deeply divided about half way down the tube, pink-white. Berries c. 5 mm, globose, free, red.

Fl. Per.: July.

Type: Cultivated specimen grown at Arnold Arboretum from material collected in Turkestan by Korolkov.

Distribution: Afghanistan, Hindukush, N. Pakistan, C. Asia.

Commonly found between 1500-4000 m.