Kingdom Plantae Family Scrophulariaceae Species P. bontioides | Order Lamiales Tribe Myoporeae Rank Genus | |
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Pentacoelium bontioides commonly known as ku jian lan, is the only species of the monotypic flowering plant genus Pentacoelium in the family Scrophulariaceae. It is a shrub growing in coastal areas of southern Japan and South China including beaches and estuaries where there are no large breaking waves.
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Description
Pentacoelium bontioides is a shrub sometimes growing to a height of 3 metres (10 ft) with branches that have raised leaf scars, are slightly sticky when young and have pale brown twigs. The leaves are arranged alternately, mostly 69–120 millimetres (3–5 in) long, 23–40 millimetres (0.9–2 in) wide, thick and elliptic in shape. They have an obvious mid-vein on the lower surface and are slightly sticky when young.
The flowers are arranged singly or in pairs in the axils of leaves on a stalk 14–27 millimetres (0.6–1 in) long. There are 5 egg-shaped, green, glabrous, pointed sepals and 5 petals joined at their bases, forming a bell-shaped tube. The petals are white to pale pinkish, spotted with purple on the petal lobes and inside the tube. The tube is 10.5–14 millimetres (0.4–0.6 in) long and the lobes are somewhat shorter than the tube. The outside of the tube is glabrous but the inside sometimes has a few hairs. There are 4 stamens which extend beyond the petal tube. Flowering occurs from April to June and is followed by purplish red, roughly spherical fruits, 10–15 millimetres (0.4–0.6 in) in diameter, which turn pale brown as they dry.
Taxonomy and naming
Pentacoelium bontioides was first formally described in 1846 by Philipp Franz von Siebold and Joseph Gerhard Zuccarini and the description was published in Abhandlungen der Mathematisch-Physikalischen Klasse der Königlich Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. The genus name Pentacoelium is derived from the Ancient Greek words penta meaning "five" and koilos meaning "hollow". The specific epithet (bontioides) is a derived from the Ancient Greek εἶδος (eîdos) meaning “form" or "likeness”, referring to the similarity of this species to plants in the genus Bontia.
Distribution and habitat
Pentacoelium bontioides occurs in coastal areas of southern Japan and South China including Taiwan and Hong Kong. It grows above the high tide line on beaches, around bays and along estuaries.