Elsholtzia rugulosa Hemsl.

Used medicinally.

Herbs to subshrubs. Stems 30-150 cm tall, much branched, branches densely white puberulent. Petiole 0.5-2.5 cm; leaf blade elliptic to rhombic-ovate, 2-7.5 × 1-3.5 cm, papery, adaxially hispid, rugulose, abaxially gray tomentose, base rounded to broadly cuneate, margin obtusely serrate with entire base, apex acute to slightly obtuse; lateral veins 4-6 paired, prominent abaxially. Spikes terminal 3-12 cm or more, mostly white tomentose; verticillasters pedunculate, dense at spike apex, lax at base; peduncle 1.2-2.5 cm; upper bracts lanceolate to subulate, 1-3 mm, margin entire. Pedicel less than 1 mm. Calyx campanulate, ca. 1.5 × 1 mm, white hispid; teeth equal or posterior 2 longer, ca. 0.7 mm. Corolla white, sometimes purple or yellowish, ca. 4 mm, villous outside, obliquely hairy annulate inside, tube ca. 3 mm, ca. 1.5 mm wide at throat; upper lip less than 1 mm, apex emarginate; middle lobe of lower lip circular, ca. 1 × 1 mm, margin erose; lateral lobes semicircular. Anterior stamens exserted; filaments slightly hairy. Nutlets yellowish, oblong, slightly flattened, ca. 1 mm, smooth. Fl. and fr. Oct-Dec.

Guangxi, Guizhou, Sichuan, Yunnan

* Hilly grasslands, waste areas, forests, thickets; 1300-2800 m.

Aphanochilus rugulosus (Hemsley) Kudo; Elsholtzia labordei Vaniot; E. mairei H. Léveillé; Plectranthus labordei (Vaniot) Diels.

Elsholtzia rugulosa is a species of the family Lamiaceae, native to Asia, mainly Burma, Vietnam and China. E. rugulosa is known in China as a local herbal tea, medicinal herb for colds and fever, and honey plant.