新疆远志 xin jiang yuan zhi

Polygala comosa Schkuhr var. altaica Chodat; P. comosa var. hybrida (Candolle) D. A. Petelin.

Herbs perennial, 15-40 cm tall. Stems caespitose, very shortly curved puberulent. Leaves sessile; leaf blade green, elliptic or lanceolate, 1.5-4.5 × 2-4 cm, thinly papery or membranous, midvein raised abaxially, impressed adaxially, lateral veins indistinct, base attenuate, margin entire, apex obtuse. Racemes terminal. Flowers dense. Pedicel ca. 2 mm, glabrous; bracteoles 3, caducous, subulate-deltoid, unequal in size, 3-5 mm, membranous, apex acuminate, ciliate. Sepals 5, persistent, membranous; outer sepals 3, elliptic-lanceolate, ca. 4 × 1.5 mm, apex obtuse, ciliate; inner sepals 2, petaloid, elliptic, large, ca. 8 × 4.5 mm, 5-veined, base unguiculate, apex obtuse or rounded. Petals 3, connate in lower 1/2, purple-red; lateral petals narrowly elliptic, oblique, ca. 7 mm, apex slightly sharp-pointed; keel shorter than lateral petals, ca. 4.5 mm, apex with slightly lobed appendages. Stamens 8; filaments ca. 4.5 mm, united throughout their length, forming an open staminal sheath, pubescent; anthers sessile, ovoid. Ovary narrowly ellipsoidal, ca. 1.5 mm, ca. 1 mm in diam., narrowly winged, glabrous; style ca. 2.5 mm, gradually broadening from base toward apex, apex like a Chinese writing brush (± spindlelike); stigma lateral, extending 1/2 way down length of style apex. Capsule oblong, ca. 6 mm, ca. 4 mm in diam., glabrous, winged. Seeds densely sericeous, strophiolate. Fl. May-Jul, fr. Jun-Sep.

Forests on slopes of hills, grasslands, sand dunes; 1200-1800 m. Xinjiang [Mongolia, Russia].