茜堇菜 qian jin cai

Herbs perennial, acaulescent, 6-17 cm tall, dwarf at anthesis, conspicuously taller at fruiting. Rhizome erect, short, 3-10 mm, stout, covered with white scales, with 2 to several roots; roots yellow-brown, long, to 18 cm, robust, simple. Leaves basal, rosulate; outer stipules glaucous, membranous, bladeless, inner ones greenish, over 1/2 adnate to petiole, free part lanceolate or narrowly lanceolate, apex long acuminate, margin remotely shortly fimbriate-denticulate; petiole long, 4-13 cm, slender, conspicuously winged in upper part, densely puberulous when young, later sparsely puberulous; leaf blades of lowest leaves often orbicular, those of others ovate or ovate-orbicular, 1.5-4.5 × 1.2-2.5 cm, to 6-7 × 5.5-6 cm at fruiting, both surfaces sparsely or densely (usually on young leaves at anthesis) white puberulous, sometimes purplish abaxially, base slightly cordate but deeply cordate at fruiting, margin crenate, apex obtuse or ± acute. Flowers purple-red, deep purple striate; pedicels usually exceeding or subequaling leaves, slender, puberulous, rarely glabrous, 2-bracteolate above middle; bracteoles linear. Sepals lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, 6-7 mm (basal auricles included), margin narrowly membranous, apex acute, basal auricles 1-2 mm, densely or sparsely puberulous and ciliate, margin usually irregularly shallowly dentate, apex obtuse or truncate. Upper petals obovate, 1.1-1.3 cm × 6-7 mm, apex often repand-emarginate; lateral ones oblong-obovate, 1.1-1.3 cm × 5-6 mm, distinctly bearded, anterior one 1.7-2.2 mm (spur included), apex retuse; spur tubular, 6-9 mm, 1-1.8 mm in diam., straight or curved upward, sometimes sparsely puberulous, apex rounded. Stamens: appendages of connectives ca. 1.5 mm; anthers ca. 2 mm; spur of 2 anterior stamens long, 6-7 mm, slender, 0.3-0.4 mm in diam. Ovary ovoid-globose, densely puberulous; styles clavate, base geniculate, conspicuously thickened upward; stigmas conspicuously margined on lateral sides and abaxially, shortly beaked in front, with a large stigma hole at tip of beak. Capsule ellipsoid, 6-8 mm, with dense short stiff hairs when young, with sparse hairs when mature. Seeds red-brown, ovoid-globose, ca. 1.5 mm, ca. 1 mm in diam. Fl. Apr-May, fr. Jun-Sep. 2n = 24.

Grasslands on sunny mountain slopes, thickets, forest margins; 100-600 m. SE Heilongjiang, E Jilin, Liaoning [Japan, Korea, Russia].