Name: Greek ánisos means unequal and odoús means tooth
Chinese: Shān làngdàng; Zang Qie; Tsang-ch'ieh.
Culture: one of the 50 fundamental herbs in traditional Chinese medicine.
Region: Tibet.
Habitat: grassy sunny slopes; altitudes of 2,800 to 4,200 metres; in the vicinity of settlements and monasteries; soils nutrient-rich.
Content: tropane alkaloids, hyoscyamine and scopolamine, anticholinergic; anisodamine, anisodine, nicotine.
BotanyPerennial herb.
Flowers: solitary; in leaf axils; star shaped; radial; nodding, sometimes erect.
Leaves: pedicels variable length, 1 to 10 cm long; glabrous or pubescent.
Calyx: infundibuliform, funnel-shaped; 2 to 4 cm long; broadly dentate; glabrous, unequal lobes or teeth acute; obtuse.
Corolla: purple, occasional wholly pale yellow to green forms; 2 to 4 cm long.
Androecium: stamens inserted at the base of the corolla tube, half the length of the corolla; filaments are about ± 1 cm long, hairless; anthers oblong; ± 5 mm long; dehiscing longitudinally.
Gynoecium: ovary is conical; styles ± 1 cm long; stigma is discoidal and somewhat dehiscent at maturity.
Pollination: by insect, flies, honeybees, ants.