Argyreia acuta
Nomenclature
Accepted name/Authority/Place of publication:
Argyreia acuta Lour., Fl. Cochinch. 135. 1790.
Synonyms:
Argyreia festiva Wall.; Lettsomia chalmersii Hance
L. festiva (Wall.) Bentham & J. D. Hooker.
Description
Habit:
Shrubs, scandent. Stems terete; axial parts silvery sericeous when young, later yellowish or glabrescent.
Leaves:
Petiole 1.5–6 cm; leaf blade elliptic or ovate, 5–13.5 × 3–11 cm, abaxial surface silvery sericeous, adaxial surface glabrous, base rounded, slightly cordate, or truncate; lateral veins 9 pairs or fewer.
Inflorescences:
Cymes axillary or terminal; peduncle 3.5–8 cm, angular or compressed; bracts elliptic or obovate, 8–12 × 4–8 mm, silvery sericeous abaxially, apex obtuse, ?deciduous. Pedicel ca. 5 mm.
Flowers:
Sepals ovate-oblong, unequal, outer sepals 9–10 × 6–7 mm, inner sepals 6–7 × 4–5 mm, silvery sericeous abaxially, apex obtuse, crinkled or recurved. Fruiting sepals red, navicular, apex recurved or corrugate. Corolla white, broadly funnelform, ca. 2.8 cm, silvery sericeous outside; limb deeply 5-lobed; lobes oblong, apex acuminate. Stamens shortly exserted; filaments ca. 1.5 cm; anthers oblong, ca. 4 mm. Pistil exserted; ovary glabrous, 2-loculed, 4-ovuled; style ca. 2 cm; stigma capitate, 2-lobed.
Fruits:
Berry enclosed by enlarged calyx, red, globose, ca. 8 mm in diam.
Seeds:
Seeds 2–4, brown, ovoid-trigonous, ca. 5 mm.
References:
Fang R.C., G. Staples, et al. 1995. Convolvulaceae in P. Raven & C.Y. Wu (eds.) Flora of China 16: 271–325.
Biogeography, Ecology and Natural History
Distribution Map:
Distribution:
China (Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan), Laos, Vietnam.
Ecology:
Open
forests, thickets, streamsides; 0–200 m.
References:
Fang R.C., G. Staples, et al. 1995. Convolvulaceae in P. Raven & C.Y. Wu (eds.) Flora of China 16: 271–325.
Other information
Common names and uses:
bai he teng (Chinese).
The whole plant has several medicinal uses.
Authorship for webpage
Editor:
George Staples, Esmond Er
Contributors:
