锐齿凤仙花 rui chi feng xian hua

Impatiens arguta var. bulleyana J. D. Hooker; I. gagei J. D. Hooker; I. namchabarwensis R. Morgan et al.; I. taliensis Lingelsheim & Borza.

Plants perennial, to 70 cm tall. Stem erect, rigid, branched. Leaves alternate; petiole 1-4 cm; leaf blade ovate or ovate-lanceolate, 4-15 × 2-4.5 cm, often with 2 stipitate basal glands, glabrous, lateral veins 7 or 8 pairs, base cuneate, margin sharply serrate, apex acute or acuminate. Inflorescences axillary, 1- or 2-flowered; peduncles very short. Pedicels long, slender, often with 2 setose bracts at base. Flowers pink or purple-red, large or medium-sized. Lateral sepals 4; outer 2: subovate, apex long cuspidate; inner 2: narrowly lanceolate. Lower sepal saccate, narrowed into an incurved, short spur. Upper petal orbicular, apex mucronulate, abaxial midvein narrowly carinate; lateral united petals not clawed, 2-lobed; basal lobes broadly oblong; distal lobes dolabriform, large, apex 2-fid; auricle conspicuous. Anthers obtuse. Capsule fusiform. Seeds few, globose, slightly shiny. Fl. Jul-Sep. 2n = 18, 20.

Forest understories, thickets, grasslands in valleys, along canals, moist places; 1800-3200 m. SW Sichuan, E Xizang, C and NW Yunnan [Bhutan, NE India, Myanmar, Nepal].

The flowers are used medicinally for dissolving clots, promoting diuresis, and treating abdominal pain, postpartum blood stasis, carbuncles, and difficulty in urination.