| English Name | Hong Kong Loosestrife, Hong Kong Primrose |
|---|---|
| Status in China | Critically Endangered (CR) |
Description:
Perennial herbs, densely covered with coarse hairs throughout. Stem 1-4 cm, often emitting runners at base. Leaves tufted on stem and at the ends of the runners where new individuals root, forming rosette-like clusters; leaf blade spathulate to narrowly oblanceolate, 3-6 cm long and 6-15 mm wide, apex rounded, with a pointed tip, tapering to the base into the very short or almost obsolete petiole. Flowers 5-merous, solitary in axil of leaves; sepals lanceolate, 5-6 mm long; corolla yellow, c. 8 mm long, divided almost to the base; lobes 5, obovate-oblong, minutely fringed. Capsule globose, with numerous seeds.
Distribution:
Confined to a few localities in Hong Kong including Victoria Peak, Mount Parker, Tai Tam, Cape D'Aguilar, Ma On Shan and Ngau Ngak Shan, with an outlying population in Gu Dou Shan, Xin Hui County of Guangdong Province.
Habitat and Ecology:
In secondary forest and thickets on hillslopes, occasionally also in crevices of rocks, alt. 80-800 m. Flowering: Apr.-May; fruiting: Aug.-Oct.
The extremely abbreviated stem and the tufted rosette-like leaves is unique in the genus Lysimachia, and is thus of great botanical interest. The species was first collected and described from the top of Victoria Peak, Hong Kong in 1850. In recent decades, there is a diminishing trend in the distribution range. It is estimated that approximately 4000 to 5000 plants exist in scattered distribution. In Hong Kong, most localities of its occurrence are within Country Parks under protection.
References:
Bentham, G., 1861: Flora Hongkongensis 202. Reeves, London.
陳封懷、胡明，1989：中國植物誌59（1）：98。圖版26。科學出版社，北京。
