阔紫叶堇菜 kuo zi ye jin cai

Viola henryi H. Boissieu var. cameleo (H. Boissieu) Chang.

Herbs perennial. Rhizome procumbent, slightly robust, covered with scales, with numerous roots. Roots yellowish when dry, 7-10 cm, with numerous fibrous roots. Stems 15-20 cm tall, slender, smooth, glabrous. Basal leaves 1 or 2; petiole long, 6-8 cm, slender; leaf blade broadly ovate or triangular-ovate, 1.5-3 × 2-3.5 cm, abaxially puberulous, adaxially usually glabrous, base broadly cordate, margin crenate, apex long acuminate. Stipules lanceolate, 3-6 mm, herbaceous, margin remotely dentate, apex acute; cauline leaves similar to basal ones, but smaller; petiole short, 0.5-2 cm; leaf blade base shallowly cordate or truncate. Flowers solitary in upper leaf axils, golden-yellow or yellowish, often purple striate; pedicels 2-5 cm, more than 2 × as long as leaves, slender, 2-bracteolate at upper part; bracteoles undeveloped, subulate. Sepals very narrow, linear, ca. 0.5 cm × 0.5-0.8 mm, apex acute, basal auricles very short, often shallowly dentate. Upper and lateral petals oblong, ca. 1 cm × 3-4 mm, not barbate, anterior one obovate; spur tubular, 3-4 mm, ca. 1 mm in diam., slightly slender, straight or slightly curved. Ovary ovoid, smooth, glabrous; styles 2-lobed in upper part, lobes oblong, apex obtuse. Fl. May-Jul, fr. Aug-Sep.

● Thickets; 1800-3800 m. W Hubei, Sichuan, NW Yunnan.