堇叶苣苔属 jin ye ju tai shu

Herbs, perennial, epipetric, rhizomatous. Stems simple. Leaves 1(or 2), on stem, apical; leaf blade pubescent, base cordate to auriculate. Inflorescences lax, axillary, 1-3(-6)-flowered cymes; bracts apparently absent. Calyx actinomorphic, 5-sect from near base; lobes equal. Corolla purple-red, zygomorphic, inside glabrous, outside oblique, campanulate, not swollen, shorter than limb, 3-5 mm in diam.; limb 2-lipped; adaxial lip 2-lobed, distinctly shorter than abaxial lip; abaxial lip 3-lobed, lobes subequal, apex rounded. Stamens 4, adnate to corolla tube very near base, included; anthers basifixed, coherent in pairs, thecae divaricate, confluent, dehiscing from fissures or cracks; connective not projecting; staminode 1, adnate to adaxial side of corolla tube. Disc ringlike. Ovary ovoid, 1-loculed; placentas 2, parietal, projecting inward, 2-cleft. Stigma 1, terminal, capitate, undivided. Capsule straight in relation to pedicel, ovoid-oblong, slightly longer than calyx, dehiscing loculicidally to base; valves 2, straight, not twisted. Seeds unappendaged.

One species: Bhutan, China, N India, Nepal.

Lower Taxon

• Platystemma violoides Wallich