《中国植物志》|| 茜草科 RUBIACEAE ||茜草属 Rubia Linn. ||梵茜草 Rubia manjith Roxb. ex Fleming

32. 梵茜草（新拟）茜草（西藏植物志）
Rubia manjith Roxb. ex Flem. in Asiat. Res. 11: 177. 1810; Hara et Kurosawa in Sci. Rep. Tohoku Univ. Biol. 29: 259. 1963; Hara, Fl. E. Himal. 1: 315, 652, t. 5d et t. 31a, d3. 1966; Hara in Hara et al. Enum. Flow. Pl. Nepal 2: 207. 1979; 西藏植物志4: 459, 图195 (1-2). 1985. ——R. manjith Roxb. ex Desv. in Journ. de Bot. 1814 (2): 207. 1814. ——R. manjista Roxb. Fl. Ind. 1: 383. 1820 et ed. 2, 1: 374. 1832. ——R. cordifolia Linn. var. khasiana Watt, Dict.Econ. Prod. Ind. 6 (1): 572. 1892.——R. cordifolia Linn. var. manjista (Roxb.) Miq. f. rubra Kitamura in Kihara, Faun. ＆ Fl. Nepal Himal. 1: 232. 1955, nom. non rite publ.
草质攀援藤本；根状茎和根紫红色；茎、枝方柱形，有4直棱，棱上有倒生小皮刺，髓部常紫红色。叶4片轮生，叶片纸质，长圆状披针形至卵状披针形，较少卵形，长2.5-8.5厘米或过之，顶端长渐尖或有时尾尖，基部心形，边缘不反卷，有微小皮刺，两面粗糙，干时带紫红色或绿灰色；基出脉5条，偶有3条，线状，下面凸起，两面均生有微小皮刺；叶柄长通常1-6厘米，密生微小皮刺。聚伞花序多四分枝，圆锥状，长通常不过10厘米，顶生的有时可长至10余厘米，花序轴和分枝均有极微小的皮刺；小苞片长圆形或披针形，长通常不超过2毫米；花小，花冠红色或紫红色，辐状，冠管短，非杯状，盛开时冠檐直径2.5-3.5毫米，裂片5，星状展开，不反折，近卵形或披针形，长约1.5厘米，被微柔毛或近无毛。果小，球形，单生或双生，暗红色。花期7-8月，果期10月。
产西藏西南部的札达、普兰、聂拉木和亚东、东南部和东部的加查、林芝、米林、波密、察隅、错那、墨脱、察雅和八宿等地。生于海拔700-3600米处的常绿阔叶林中，亦见于松林和灌丛中。分布于印度东北部、喜马拉雅东部至西部、不丹和缅甸等地。又据《西藏植物志》记载，本种在我国云南、四川和青海均产。
种加词 manjith 源出梵语 manjishtha, 意为鲜红色的。
本植物的根含红色染料，又可入药，有凉血、止血和活血的功效。

《云南植物志》|| 茜草科 Rubiaceae ||茜草属 Rubia Linn. ||梵茜草 Rubia manjith Roxb. ex Fleming

18.梵茜草（中国植物志）
茜草（西藏植物志）
Rubia manjith Roxb. ex Fleming (1810); Hara in Hara et al. (1979); 西藏植物志 (1985)*; 横断山区维管植物 (1994); 中国植物志 (1999).
Rubia manjith Roxb. ex Desv. (1814); R. manjista Roxb. (1820), (1832); Wight (1839); R. cordifolia Linn. var. manjista (Roxb.) Miq. (1867), quoad syn.; Banerji (1966); R. cordifolia Linn. var. khasiana Watt (1892); R. cordifolia Linn. var. manjista (Roxb.) Miq. f. rubra Kitam. (1955), nom, non rite publ.
草质攀援藤本。根状茎和根紫红色。茎、枝方柱形，有4棱，棱上有倒生小皮刺，髓部常紫红色。叶4片轮生，纸质，长圆状披针形、卵状披针形或卵形，长2.5—8.5厘米，先端长渐尖或尾状渐尖，基部心形，边缘不反卷，有小皮刺，两面粗糙，干时带紫红色或绿灰色，基出脉5条，稀3条，在叶背面凸起，脉上有小皮刺；叶柄长1—6厘米，密被小皮刺。聚伞花序多回分枝，圆锥状，长常不超过10厘米，顶生的可长达10余厘米，花序轴和分枝有小皮刺；小苞片长圆形或披针形，长不过2毫米；花小；花冠红色或紫红色，辐状，冠管短，直径2.5—3.5毫米，花冠裂片5，不反折，近卵形或披针形，长约1.5毫米，被微柔毛或近无毛。果球形，单生或双生，暗红色。花期7—8月，果期10月。
产德钦、中甸、贡山、福贡；生于海拔1300—3600米处的常绿阔叶林中或灌丛。四川、西藏、青海也有。分布于尼泊尔、不丹、缅甸、印度。

《Flora of China》|| Rubiaceae || Rubia ||梵茜草 Rubia manjith

17. Rubia manjith Roxburgh ex Fleming, Asiat. Res. 11: 177. 1810.

梵茜草 fan qian cao

Rubia cordifolia Linnaeus var. khasiana Watt; R. cordifolia var. munjista (Roxburgh) Miquel; R. munjista Roxburgh.

Vines, herbaceous, drying with reddish cast; stems to 3 m, quadrangular, glabrous, retrorsely aculeolate to smooth, with red pith. Leaves in whorls of 4, equal or unequal; petiole 0.8-4 cm, sparsely aculeolate; blade drying papery, mostly greenish adaxially and purplish red abaxially, oblong-lanceolate, ovate-lanceolate, or ovate, (2.5-)4-6(-8.5) × (0.8-)1.8-2.5(-4) cm, length/breadth index 2-3, both surfaces glabrous and scaberulous, base rounded to cordate, margin flat to thinly revolute, aculeolate, apex long acuminate or caudate; principal veins (3 or)5(or 7), palmate. Inflorescences thyrsoid, paniculate, with terminal and axillary, many-flowered and 2.5-10 cm long cymes; axes glabrous and smooth to sparsely aculeolate; bracteoles elliptic-oblong or lanceolate, 0.5-2 mm; pedicels 1.5-3.5 mm. Ovary ca. 0.5 mm, smooth. Corolla red, purplish red, or orange, rotate, glabrous, fused basal part 0.5-0.6 mm; lobes 5, lanceolate to triangular, 1.2-1.5 cm, acuminate. Mericarp berry dark red, 3.5-5 mm in diam. Fl. Jul-Aug, fr. Oct.

Broad-leaved forests, Pinus forests and thickets; 700-3600 m. Qinghai, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan [Bhutan, India, Nepal].

Rubia manjith belongs to R. ser. Cordifoliae. Among the taxa with small rotate flowers (R. cordifolia agg.) it is mainly characterized by its conspicuous reddish cast, particularly on lower leaf sides and flowers (see additional comments under R. cordifolia). A similar cast also appears in the otherwise quite different R. podantha, a taxon with campanulate flowers.

Deb and Malick (Bull. Bot. Surv. India 10(1): 6-8. 1968), after a lengthy discussion, treated Rubia manjith ("R. munjista") as a synonym of R. cordifolia only and identified it with R. cordifolia var. khasiana. In contrast, Long (Fl. Bhutan 2(2): 823-825. 1999) distinguished R. manjith from R. cordifolia largely by its red cast, both alive and dried, but agreed with the inclusion of R. cordifolia var. khasiana as a synonym. The same was maintained by H. S. Lo (in FRPS 71(2): 314. 1999), who added "R. cordifolia f. rubra Kitamura" as a synonym of R. manjith and qualified it as "nom. non rite publ." Both Deb and Malick (loc. cit.) and Long (loc. cit.) mention the economic and historical importance of the taxon as a source of an excellent red dye.