美丽芍药 mei li shao yao

Paeonia bifurcata Schipczinsky; P. mairei f. oxypetala (Handel-Mazzetti) W. P. Fang; P. oxypetala Handel-Mazzetti.

Herbs perennial, to 1 m tall. Roots thick, attenuate toward tip. Rhizomes ca. 2 cm in diam. Stems glabrous. Proximal leaves 2-ternate; some leaflets segmented; leaflets and segments up to 19, oblong-ovate or oblong-lanceolate, 6--16.5 × 1.8--7 cm, glabrous, base cuneate, apex usually acuminate. Flowers solitary, terminal, single, 7.5--14 cm wide. Bracts 1--3, leaflike or linear, to 9 cm. Sepals 3--5, green, broadly ovate, 1--1.5 × 0.9--1.2 cm. Petals 7--9, pink to red, obovate, 3.5--7 × 2--4.5 cm, apex usually rounded. Filaments purple-red; anthers yellow. Disc yellow, annular. Carpels 2 or 3, sparsely to densely yellow shortly hirsute, sometimes glabrous. Styles to 4 mm; stigmas red. Follicles 3--3.5 × 1--1.2 cm. Fl. Apr--May, fr. Aug. 2n = 20*.

* Deciduous broad-leaved forests; 1500--2700 m. SE Gansu, NW Guizhou, SW Hubei, S Shaanxi, C and S Sichuan, NE Yunnan.