Volume 15 > Part 1 > Year 2021 > Page 219 > Rubiaceae > Ophiorrhiza

14. Ophiorrhiza pedunculata Schanzerwfo-0000797717

Thai Forest Bull., Bot. 32: 141. 2004.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Synonyms & Citations :

Description : Erect herbs 10–30 cm tall; stems unbranched or branched, loosely to densely hairy on 1 or 2 opposite sides or throughout with multicellular, curved or flexuose, white, hairs 0.2–0.5 mm long. Stipules narrowly triangular or setaceous to narrowly subulate, 1–4 by 0.5–1 mm, often fimbriate at apex, membranaceous somewhat hairy, caducous. Leaves equal to unequal, elliptic to broadly lanceolate, 4.5–17 by 2.2–7.2 cm, base cuneate to broadly cuneate, apex acuminate to acute to obtuse, margin hairy, scatteredly hairy with multicellular, straight or curved, appressed, white hairs 0.2–0.55 mm long above, dry olive-green or pale green, scatteredly hairy throughout surface with multicellular, straight or curved, white hairs 0.2–0.4 mm long beneath, lateral veins 8–12 pairs, veins beneath same colour or darker than blade; petiole 0.4–4 cm long. Inflorescences terminal helicoid cymes with underdeveloped central axis, very compact in flower, with branches elongated in fruit, at anthesis upright, with 10–31 flowers; peduncle at anthesis 1.5 cm long, 3.3–10.8 cm long in fruit, densely to loosely hairy on 1 or 2 opposite sides, hairs villous, white to purplish, 0.2–0.5 mm long; inflorescence branches without secondary branchlets, to 8–9 mm long, loosely to densely hairy on 1 or 2 opposite sides or throughout, hairs decreasingly shorter than those of peduncle, 0.1–0.3 mm long; bracts & bracteoles equal or longer than ovaries, linear to narrow lanceolate to narrow triangular, 2–5.2 mm long, hairy on both surfaces and margin; flower bud apex rounded or angular, slightly ribbed. Flowers homostylous and heterostylous; pedicels very short, inconspicious, 0.5–1.2 mm long. Calyx lobes lanceolate, longer than wide, 0.7–1.1 mm long. Corolla cylindric to narrow infundibular, white, lobes pink to purple, outside hairy on both tube and lobes with hairs 0.1–0.3 mm long. Ovary densely hispid hairy. Homostylous flowers: flower buds 4.5–7 mm long; corolla tube 4–6.2 mm long, not inflated at base, inside hairy, with loose ring of hairs and scattered hairs or scales above hair ring, hairs perpendicular to walls, or upwards appressed, 0.1–0.2 mm long; lobes upright or spreading, shorter than tube, 1–2.2 mm long, inside scaly; stamens attached above tube base, below hair ring; filament 0.3–1.5 mm long; anthers included at tube middle, or above tube middle, inside or above hair ring, 1–1.5 mm long; style included below anthers or at anthers level, glabrous, 1.3–1.8 mm long; stigma 1.2–1.7 mm long, lobes lanceolate. Longistylous flowers: flower buds 3.7–6.5 mm long; corolla tube 4.2 mm long, not inflated at base, inside hairy, with dense ring of hairs, scattered hairs or scales above the hair ring, tube inside hairs upwards appressed, 0.5–0.6 mm long; lobes upright, or spreading, shorter than tube, 1.3 mm long, inside scaly; stamens attached above tube base, below hair ring; filament ca 0.3 mm long; anthers included below tube middle, below hair ring, 1.2 mm long; style glabrous, included above anthers, ca 3.3 mm long; stigma 0.6–0.7 mm long, lobes roundish. Brevistylous flowers: flower buds 0.9–1.1 cm long; corolla tube 0.9–1.1 cm long, not inflated at base, inside hairy, with loose ring of hairs, scattered hairs or scales above the hair ring, hairs perpendicular to walls, 0.3 mm long; lobes upright or spreading, shorter than tube, 2.5–3.3 mm long, inside scaly; stamens attached above tube base, or at tube middle, below hair ring; filament 3–3.5 mm long; anthers included above tube middle, above hair ring, 2.3 mm long; style 2.4 mm long, glabrous, included below anthers; stigma 1.8–1.9 mm long, lobes lanceolate. Capsules loosely arranged, touching each other’s margin, or distant from each other; laterally flattened, cordate, 1.7–2.6 by 4.5–7.2 mm, upper margin concave or straight.

Thailand : NORTHERN: Chiang Mai (Mae Ping – type: Kerr 4656 -ABD BK BM K), Chiang Rai, Phrae, Phayao, Nan, Mae Hong Son, Lampang; SOUTH-WESTERN: Kanchanaburi, Ratchaburi.

Distribution : Myanmar (?).

Ecology : In primary or disturbed evergreen, mixed, or disturbed bamboo dominated forests, on humus, open soil, wet rocks, along streams and waterfalls, 100–1,125 m alt.