Sonerila erecta Jack

Sonerila erecta Jack, Malayan Misc. 1(5): 7 (1820).

Sonerila erecta Jack; Photos Anna Ratkevich

Vietnamese name: 

Sơn Linh Mảnh

Scientific name: 

Sonerila erecta Jack

Synonym name:

Sonerila cheliensis H.L. Li

Sonerila epilobioides Stapf & King

Sonerila shanlinensis C. Chen

Sonerila tenera Royle

Plant family: 

Melastomaceae

Description: 

Herbs 5-18 cm tall. Stems slender, almost 4-sided, alate, with sparse spreading glandular trichomes. Petiole 4-15 mm, glandular pilose, faintly narrowly alate; leaf blade narrowly elliptic to ovate, (0.5-)1-2.5(-3) × (0.3-)0.4-1.6(-2) cm, membranous, abaxially scattered hirsute, glabrous, or furfuraceous, adaxially sparsely hirsute, secondary veins 2-3 on each side of midvein, base cuneate, margin serrulate with each tooth having a terminal seta, apex shortly acuminate. Inflorescences terminal, scorpioid cymes, 1-5(-11)-flowered, 1-4.5 cm, with spreading glandular trichomes; peduncle 0.8-2 cm. Pedicel 2-7 mm, sub 3 sided, with scattered glandular trichomes. Hypanthium tubular, 4-5 mm, to 1.7 mm in diam., almost 3-sided, 6-ribbed, usually with sparse glandular trichomes on ribs. Calyx lobes broadly ovate-triangular, ca. 0.5 mm, apex apiculate. Petals pink to purple, oblong-elliptic, 3-3.5 mm, oblique, with sparse glandular trichomes on ridge, apex acute. Stamens 3, subequal; filaments as long as anthers; anthers broadly ovate, 1.8-2 mm, base forked. Ovary flask-shaped, membranous crown 3-lobed. Capsule tubular, 4-7 × ca. 2 mm, 3-sided; hypanthium sparsely glandular pilose, 6-ribbedUses: White zone, menstruation, breast swelling, postpartum (whole tree).

Distribution: 

Found in China, N India, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, In VietNam, found in Lam Dong (Lang Hanh), Bidoup Nui Ba National Park. 

Ecology: 

Trees grow naturally scattered in dry thin forests, pine forests, at an altitude of 800-1000 m.

Fruit season: 

II-III