Pogostemon elsholtzioides Bentham (1848: 153)

YAO, GANG, DENG, YUN-FEI & GE, XUE-JUN, 2015, A Taxonomic Revision Of Pogostemon (Lamiaceae) From China, Phytotaxa 200 (1), pp. 448-450 : 448-450

5. Pogostemon elsholtzioides Bentham (1848: 153) . Lectotype (here designated): — INDIA. East Bengal : Khasia, no date, W. Griffith 3962 (K000249636!, isolectotype P!).

Perennial bushy, 1–2 m tall. Stem solid, erect, branched, terete or angular, tomentose. Leaves opposite; petiole 1–2 cm long, tomentose; blade narrowly elliptic to lanceolate, 4–15 × 1–5 cm, base cuneate, margin serrate, apex acuminate, tomentose adaxially, tomentose along the veins abaxially, glandular on both urfaces, lateral veins 3–5 pairs on each side of the midvein. Spikes 1.5–12 cm long, 8–11 mm wide, terminal and axillary, sometimes secund, continuous, sometimes interrupted basally, with more than two lateral branches; peduncle 0.5–2 cm long; verticillasters many-flowered, flowers subsessile. Bracts and bracteoles ovate or lanceolate, 1.5–3.3 mm long, tomentose. Calyx campanulate, 3–3.5 mm long, 5-veined, tomentose and golden glandular outside, glabrous inside except for tomentose toward the apex of teeth; teeth 5, triangular, equal, ca. 1mm long, ca. 0.7 mm wide at base, 1/ 3–1/2 as long as the calyx tube, hairy upward inside, margin ciliate. Corolla mauve, ca. 4.5 mm long, exserted, 2- lipped, upper lip 3-lobed, lobes ca. 0.7 mm long, ca. 0.9 mm wide at base, apex obtuse, lower lip entire, ca. 0.9 mm long, ca. 1 mm wide at base, apex acute. Stamens 4, much exserted, erect; filaments ca. 4.3–4.6 mm long, bearded at middle; anthers 1-locular, cell apex dehiscent. Style ca. 6 mm long; stigma bifid, lobes ca. 1 mm; disc ca. 0.4 mm long. Nutlets 4, lanceolate.

Distribution and habitat:— The species is widely distributed in Himalayan regions. In China, it It is occasional in woodlands of ravine at the elevation of 1100–1300 m.

Phenology:— Flowering and fruiting from September to December.

Taxonomic notes:— The species was misidentified under the name Pogostemon dielsianus in the herbarium PE. Obviously, it can be distinguished from P. dielsianus by its campanulate (not tubular) calyx 3–3.5 mm long (not 3.5–4 mm long), and the corolla ca. 4.5 mm long (not 7–8 mm long).

Pogostemon elsholtzioides also resembles to P. dielsianus and P. griffithii in habit, the differences among them are discussed under P. dielsianus .