Caryopteris trichosphaera W. W. Sm.

Related to Caryopteris tangutica but differs in having leaf blades ovate-oblong to broadly ovate, both surfaces glandular, and calyces and corollas glandular outside.

Shrubs 50-100 cm tall, aromatic. Branchlets pubescent and glandular when young. Petiole 3-9 mm or apical leaves subsessile; leaf blade ovate-oblong to broadly ovate, 1-3 X 1.5-3 cm, papery, pubescent, glandular especially abaxially, base rounded to truncate, margin coarsely serrate, apex obtuse; veins 6-8 pairs, abaxially prominent. Inflorescences axillary or terminal, dense cymes, densely villous; peduncle ca. 1 cm. Calyx campanulate, ca. 3 mm, lobes oblong-lanceolate, outside densely villous and glandular. Corolla bluish to purplish, ca. 6 mm, outside glabrous or nearly so except for lobes each with a distinct patch of villous to lanate hairs, pubescent at insertion of stamens, tube ca. 5 mm, lower lobe fringed. Stamens ca. 2 as long as corolla tube. Ovary and style glabrous. Fruiting calyx ca. 6 mm. Fruit oblong to ovoid, 2-3 X 2 mm, nutlets with winged edges. Fl. and fr. Aug-Sep.

W Sichuan, E Xizang, NW Yunnan

* Thickets on mountain slopes, dry grassy places in valleys; 2700-3300 m.

Caryopteris incana (Thunberg ex Houttuyn) Miquel var. brachyodonta (Handel-Mazzetti) Moldenke; C. tangutica Maximowicz var. brachyodonta Handel-Mazzetti.