短果升麻 duan guo sheng ma

Actaea brachycarpa (P. K. Hsiao) J. Compton; Cimicifuga lancifoliolata X. F. Pu & M. R. Jia.

Rhizome robust, with numerous fibrous roots. Stems ca. 1.5 m tall, basally subglabrous, apically pubescent. Proximal cauline leaves 2 × ternate, long petiolate; petiole 3--15 cm, base sheathed, subglabrous; leaf blade triangular, to 26 cm; terminal leaflet rhombic, ca. 8.5 × 6.3 cm, margin serrate, apex acute; lateral leaflets ovate-elliptic, 5.4--7.6 × 1.5--3 cm, papery, abaxially pubescent at veins, adaxially subglabrous. Distal cauline leaves shortly petiolate; petiole ca. 3 mm, usually ternate. Inflorescence racemose, 4--6-branched; rachis and pedicels densely gray-appressed glandular pubescent; bracts subulate, ca. 1 mm. Pedicel 2--3 mm. Flowers small, ca. 4 mm. Sepals white. Carpels (1 or)2 or 3(or 4), glabrous or sparsely pubescent, stalked. Follicles suborbicular, ca. 3 × 3 mm, glabrous; persistent style ca. 1.5 mm, base with slender stalk ca. 1.5 mm, sometimes sparsely pubescent. Seeds 2 or 3, ovate-ellipsoid, 2.5--2.8 × ca. 1.5 mm, without scaly wings. Fr. Sep.

* Forests, moist open slopes; ca. 2000 m. Henan, Hubei, Shanxi, Sichuan, NE Yunnan (Zhenxiong Xian).