马尔康柴胡 ma er kang chai hu

Bupleurum sichuanense S. L. Pan & P. S. Hsu.

Plants 30–65 cm, perennial. Taproot stout, woody, purplish-brown, digitate-branched. Stems numerous, usually erect, base purplish, without fibrous remnant sheaths. Basal leaves numerous, linear, 10–15 × 0.25–0.5 cm, thick and rigid, 5–7-nerved, base clasping. Middle and upper leaves linear-lanceolate, 3–5-nerved. Umbels numerous, small, 1–2 cm across; peduncles usually purplish-tinged; bracts 2–3, linear or squamose, 1–5 × 0.5–1 mm, unequal; rays 3–5, 1–2 cm; bracteoles 5, lanceolate, 2–2.5 × 0.6–0.8 mm, slightly shorter than or equaling umbellules; umbellules very small, 4–6 mm across, 7–11-flowered; pedicels 0.5–1 mm. Petals yellow. Stylopodium low-conic, yellow. Fruit ellipsoid, brown, 2.5–3 × 1.5–1.8 mm; vittae 3 in each furrow, 4 on commissure. Fl. Jul–Sep, fr. Sep–Oct. n = 6*.

Shrub forest margins, mountain slopes, riversides, ruderal areas; 2000–3700 m. S Gansu, SE Qinghai, W Sichuan, SE Xizang.

This species is used as a regional substitute for the Chinese medicine “chai hu.”