Hypoestes lanata - Woolly Polka Dot Plant

Woolly Polka Dot Plant is a plant from Western Ghats which was believed to be extinct until its recent (2022) rediscovery. It is a woody undershrub 1-1.5 m tall, stem hairless to sparsely or dense velvet-hairy; Leaves are elliptic-lanceshaped, 6-15 x 2-5 cm, base narrowed into 0.5-3 cm long stalk, tip pointed to tapering, margin wavy, sparsely velvet-hairy, surfaces sparsely velvet-hairy; cystoliths numerous cylindrical or linear-ellipsoid; lateral veins 7-8 pairs. Flowers are borne in leaf-axils and at branch-ends in spike-like thyrses, densely wooly, often sprinkled with glandular hairs; clusters in leaf-axils are few-flowered, 3-5 cm long reduced thyrses, at branch-ends many-flowered, 5-12 cm long elongated thyrses. Flowers are 2-2.5 cm, pink to carmine with shades of lilac, throat white, sparsely finely velvet-hairy to glandular hairy; tube white, often marked with lilac, 5-7 mm long, sparsely glandular hairy to finely velvet-hairy, characteristically twisted at 180 degree and widened distally. Lip held in lower position is strap-shaped, 10-15 x 3-4 mm, blunt, characteristically circinnate or recurved distally, white, pale pink. Lip held in upper position is showy, inverted-lanceshaped, 15-18 x 407 mm, pink to carmine, often lined with maroon, base with white with maroon markings or mottling, tip incised for 1-2 mm, three lobed. Two stamen filaments are 1.3-1.7 cm, purple, tipped with yellow anthers. Sepal-cup is sparsely glandular hairy, tube 2-4 mm, sepals 5, unequal, lanceshaped, 3-4 mm, tip tapering. Woolly Polka Dot Plant is only known from Maharashtra. Flowering: October-January.