
Erect, fleshy perennial herbs 3-8 dm tall. Leaves elliptic to
obovate, 3-11 cm long, 1.5-5 cm wide, apex acuminate or acute, base
attenuate. Flowers in paniculate inflorescences 20-40 cm long,
pedicels slender, 10-20 cm long, bracts linear-lanceolate, ca. 3 mm
long; sepals broadly elliptic to suborbicular, 2-4 mm long; petals
pink to dark pink, broadly elliptic to obovate-elliptic, 3.5-4.5 mm
long; stamens 5-15. Capsules reddish, globose, ca. 3 mm long,
3-valved. Seeds black, glossy, ca. 0.9-1.2 mm long, the surface
minutely tuberculate.
Medical use: Root has saponin, steroid and essential oil and used as
tonic. |