From: Veronicastrum wulingense (Plantaginaceae), a new species from Southwestern Hubei, China
Characters | Veronicastrum wulingense | Veronicastrum liukiuense |
---|---|---|
Plant habit | Arching and rooting apically | Ascending below, arching and rooting apically |
Stem | Terete, not angular, with densely short curly hairs | Striate, sparsely pubescent |
Petiole | Densely short curly hairs | Pubescent |
Leaf | Ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 3–12 × 2–6 cm, blade abaxially purple-red, sparse white pubescent to nearly glabrous | Blade ovate or orbiculate ovate, 5–9 × 2.5–7 cm, lower surface sparsely hirsute on nerves |
Serration | Undate, irregular, cuspidate to long apiculate dentate, apex upward, or crenate dentate | Depressed mucronate teeth |
Inflorescence | Axillary, 4–9 cm, peduncle 1–7 cm, rachis densely short curly hairs, flower cluster dense in peduncle apex, steadily ca. 2–3 cm | Terminal on short leafy branches, 2–4 cm, 1.5 cm cross in flowers, peduncle hirsute |
Bracts and calyx lobes | Bracts and calyx lobes linear-lanceolate to narrowly triangular, conspicuously shorter than corolla, densely short ciliate | Bracts linear-lanceolate, 6–8 mm, acuminate, hirsute; calyx lobes lanceolate, attenuate acuminate, ca. 4 mm, sparsely pilose on upper margin |
Flower | Purple-red, pedicellate to subsessile (0–2.5 mm) with densely short curly hairs, corolla 5.5–7 mm | White tinged with pale purple, sessile, corolla ca. 7 mm |
Corolla lobes | Ovate-triangular to narrowly triangular, 2/5–1/2 of corolla length | Triangular-lanceolate, acute, ca. 3 mm |
Florescence | June to July | September to October |