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(21) 香港細辛
Asarum hongkongense S. M. Hwang & T. P. Wong Siu
馬兜鈴科 (Aristolochiaceae)
英文名 (English name): Hong Kong Asarum
Status in China: Critically endangered (CR)
Description: Perennial herbs, with long prostrate rhizomes; roots more or less fleshy, aromatic. Leaves slightly leathery, ovate-heart-shaped or ovate, 6-11 cm long, 5-8 cm wide, apex acute, base deeply cordate, margin slightly revolute, densely ciliate, glabrous on both surfaces, glossy above, basal veins 7; petioles 12-30 cm long. Flowers solitary, purplish green; pedicels glabrous, 1.5-4 cm long; throat more or less constricted, without membranous circle inside; tube broadly ovoid or subglobose; limb patent, 3-lobed; lobes broadly ovate, ca. 1.5 cm long, 1.2 cm wide; stamens 12, filaments shorter than anthers. Ovary nearly superior, styles 6, apex bifid, stigma ovate.
Distribution: Endemic to Hong Kong, only found in Lantau Island.
Habitat and ecology: In thickets or thin forests on hillslopes, at altitude of 500-800 m. Flowering: Apr.-Jul.
This species was first discovered in 1988 in Lantau Island with one small wild population. As an endemic species and the only representative of the genus Asarum in Hong Kong, it is of value for further scientific research. The plant also has potential medicinal uses. The locality is within Lantau Country Park under protection. Ex-situ conservation measures could be explored.
References:
黃淑美、黃蕭德平， 1990：香港細辛屬一新種。植物分類學報 28 (5): 406-408.
李甯漢、劉啟文(主編), 1997: 香港中草藥 7: 16-17。商務印書館，香港。
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