Epithema carnosum - Fleshy Epithema

Fleshy Epithema is a herb with stems 8-16 cm long, spreading puberulent. Basal stem leaves 1; leaf-stalk 1.8-7.5 cm; leaf blade elliptic to ovate, 7.5-12 x 4.5-6.5 cm, puberulent, base sometimes slightly oblique, heart-shaped, margin wavy-finely toothed to sawtoothed, tip blunt; top stem leaves are usually 2, opposite, short stalked or nearly stalkless, leaf blade ovate-elliptic, 3.5-8 x 2-5.5 cm, base somewhat heart-shaped. Flower-cluster-stalk is 2.2-5.5 cm; bract hoodlike, obovate, 6-10 mm. Flower-stalk is 2-4 mm. Calyx 3.5-4 mm; sepals triangular. Flower are reddish to purplish or white, about 6 mm, inside sparsely puberulent centrally; tube about 4.5 mm; lips about 2 mm. Stamens about 2 mm; staminodes about 1 mm. Pistil about 3 mm; ovary puberulent toward style. Capsule about 2 mm in diam. Fleshy Epithema is found on shaded rocks, caves in valleys, in Bhutan, NE India, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand and Western Ghats, at altitudes of 300-1400 m. Flowering: June-September.