《Flora of China》|| Acanthaceae || Peristrophe ||观音草 Peristrophe bivalvis

7. Peristrophe bivalvis (Linnaeus) Merrill, Interpr. Herb. Amboin. 476. 1917.

观音草 guan yin cao

Justicia bivalvis Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, 2: 850. 1759; Hypoestes bodinieri H. Léveillé; J. baphica Sprengel; J. roxburghiana Roemer & Schultes; J. tinctoria Roxburgh; Peristrophe baphica (Sprengel) Bremekamp; P. roxburghiana (Roemer & Schultes) Bremekamp; P. tinctoria (Roxburgh) Nees.

Herbs to 1 m tall, perennial. Stems 5- or 6-angled, much branched, sulcate, pubescent. Petiole to 3.5 cm; leaf blade ovate to lanceolate-ovate, 3-14.5 × 1.5-5.3 cm, both surfaces puberulent (especially along midvein) or becoming subglabrescent, secondary veins 5 or 6 on each side of midvein, base broadly cuneate to subrounded, margin entire to sinuate, apex acuminate to acute. Cymes axillary or terminal, pedunculate, often consisting of 1-3(or more) pedunculate involucres terminating branches; peduncle 0.3-2.3 cm; outer involucral bracteoles broadly ovate, ovate, or elliptic, unequal in size, puberulent to subglabrous, base rounded to cuneate, apex acute; larger outer involucral bracteole (1.8-)2.3-3.3 × 0.8-1.5 cm; smaller outer involucral bracteole 0.71-0.85 × as long as larger one; inner cymule bracteoles triangular-subulate, 1-2 mm. Calyx 4.5-5 mm, pubescent; lobes lanceolate. Corolla pink, 3.5-5.7 cm, outside pubescent with non-glandular trichomes; tube ca. 1.5 mm in diam.; lip in lower position broadly ovate-elliptic, 2.2-2.6 × ca. 1.8 cm, apex emarginate; lip in upper position oblong, 2-2.5 × ca. 0.9 cm, 3-lobed. Staminal filaments ca. 1.3 cm, puberulent; anther thecae linear, subequally to unequally inserted (overlapping for most of their length), 3.2-4 mm. Ovary pubescent; style glabrous; stigma 2-cleft. Capsule ca. 1.5 cm, pubescent. Seeds ca. 1.5 × 1.5 mm. Fl. Aug-Mar.

Forests; 500-1000 m. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hunan, Jiangxi, Taiwan, Yunnan [Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam].