南黄堇 nan huang jin

Corydalis pseudoclematis Fedde.

Herbs, perennial, 20-100 cm tall. Roots several, yellow, dark brown and wiry when dried, linear, 8-10 cm, stout, 1-1.5 mm in diam.; rootstock short, with bases of rosette leaf petioles becoming fleshy, forming a bulblike structure at apex. Stems few to several, narrowly winged-ridged, sparingly branched, with 3-6 leaves throughout, erect to ascending or some stems far creeping, rooting at nodes. Radical leaves few, very long stalked; petiole 9-22 cm, vaginate and fleshy at base; blade glaucous abaxially, green adaxially, broadly triangular, 7-13 × 8-13 cm, triternate; pinnae long petiolulate; pinnules shortly petiolulate; ultimate leaflets ovate to obovate to nearly orbicular, 1-2(-3) × 0.5-1.5(-2.5) cm, entire, obtuse, mucronulate. Cauline leaves like radical leaves but smaller, vaginate at base, petiole forming small angle to stem. Racemes 3-10 cm, dense, 5-15-flowered, secund; bracts often with a pinkish hue, oblanceolate, 2-5 mm, entire. Pedicel 3-5 mm, slender, recurved in fruit. Sepals minute, ca. 0.5 mm, dentate. Petals yellow; upper petal 20-28 mm; limb navicular-ovate, acute, not crested or with very narrow crest; spur cylindric, 13-21 mm; nectary 3/4-5/6 as long as spur; lower petal navicular-oblong, 9-11 mm, base sometimes with tiny protuberance; inner petals 8-10 mm, claw equaling or shorter than limb, dorsal crests not or slightly overtopping apex. Stigma nearly quadrate, with 8 marginal papillae and 2 submarginal lateral geminate papillae. Capsule oblong to narrowly obovoid, 8-14 × 2-2.5 mm, 3-11-seeded; style ca. 3 mm. Seeds 1.5-1.7 mm, smooth; elaiosome small. Fl. and fr. Apr-Oct.

Clearings, forest margins, among shrubs, grasslands on slopes, roadsides, walls; 2000-3500 m. Chongqing (Nanchuan), S and W Sichuan, Yunnan [E Myanmar].

This taxon is probably heterogeneous. Plants from Gaoligong Shan (W Yunnan, E Myanmar) have dense racemes, frequent accessory branches, and a narrow upturned nectary. Plants from SE Yunnan are very low-growing with a short thick spur. There is a gap in distribution between Sichuan and SE and W Yunnan.