Chroesthes Benoist, 1927

Yunoh, Siti-Munirah Mat, 2021, Chroesthes (Acanthaceae) in Peninsular Malaysia, including a new species from Kelantan and a new record from Terengganu, PhytoKeys 174, pp. 127-146 : 127

Chroesthes Benoist

Chroesthes Bull. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat. 33: 107. 1927, in Fl. Gen. I. C. 4: 684. 1935; Hansen, Nordic J. Bot. 3: 209. 1983; Hu, J. C., Deng, Y. F., Daniel, T. & Wood, J. R. I. Acanthaceae . In: Wu, Z. Y., Revan, P. & Hong, D. Y. (Eds.) Flora of China 19: 472. 2011.

Description.

Shrubs; cystoliths present. Leaves opposite, petiolate; leaf blade margin entire; subisophyllous or anisophyllous. Inflorescences terminal thyrses (the thyrses are branched (then paniculiform) or unbranched (then racemoid); bracts and bracteoles greenish. Calyx unequally five-lobed: posterior lobe largest, two lateral lobes smaller than two anterior lobes. Corolla tube basally cylindrical, expanded distally into a throat; limb two-lipped, upper lip two-lobed, lower lip three-lobed; lobes quincuncial in bud; four stamens, connate to the corolla, not connate to one another, posterior pair shorter than anterior pair, inserted at the base of the corolla throat; anthers bi-thecous; thecae parallel, inserted at different heights, dorsally pubescent, base of each theca spurred; ovary with two ovules per locule; style basally sparsely pubescent; stigma capitate. Capsule stipe absent or barely present; retinacula present. Seeds compressed, brownish, shortly pubescent.

Distribution.

China, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam. Three species in Malaysia.

Ecology.

Lowland dipterocarp forest to upper hill dipterocarp forest.