Strobilanthes helicta T.Anderson

Subshrubs 50-100 cm tall, pliestesial, nearly isophyllous. Stems 4-angled, erect, sulcate, usually glabrous but sometimes apically brown pubescent. Petiole 0.2-5 cm, bifariously pubescent; leaf blade ovate-lanceolate to elliptic, 5-12 × 1-6 cm, both surfaces glabrous except for pubescence on margin near base, abaxially paler, adaxially dark green, secondary veins 6 or 7 on each side of midvein and abaxially prominent, base attenuate and decurrent onto petiole, margin serrate to rarely subentire, apex acuminate. Inflorescences axillary, spikes, 2-12 cm, secund, sometimes few flowered and frequently with bract pairs fertile only apically; rachis usually strongly zigzag; bracts linear, 5-13 mm, persistent, one of pair per node shorter than other, glabrous or gland-tipped pilose; bracteoles linear, 2-3 mm, glabrous or gland-tipped pilose. Flowers 6-10 mm apart on rachis, only one sterile per node. Calyx 1.3-2.5 cm, glabrous or gland-tipped pubescent, 5-lobed almost to base; lobes linear with one shorter than others, often keeled, outside with white cystoliths, apex acuminate. Corolla white or flushed pale purple, 3.5-4 cm, outside glabrous, inside glabrous except for trichomes retaining style; tube basally narrow and cylindric for ca. 5 mm then abruptly widened to ca. 1.8 cm and finally narrowed slightly and bent to ca. 90° near mouth; lobes oblong, ca. 5 × 4 mm, unequal, apex emarginate. Stamens 4, included; filaments glabrous, shorter pair ca. 4 mm, longer pair ca. 6 mm; anther thecae oblong, ca. 3 × 1 mm; pollen type 4. Ovary glabrous; style 2.8-3.2 cm, apically hirsute. Capsule oblong, 1.8-2 cm, glabrous, 4-seeded, apex apiculate. Seeds ovate to obovate in outline, ca. 4 × 2.5 mm, appressed pubescent. Fl. Sep-Nov, fr. Nov-Jan.

It is a subtropical plant. In south China it grows in evergreen broad-leaved forests between 1,700-2,200 m above sea level. In Yunnan.

It is also used for making salt.