壶冠龙胆 hu guan long dan

Perennials 8-20 cm tall. Stolons to 5 cm, simple or few branched. Stems purple, erect, simple, papillate. Petiole 3-8 × 2-3 mm, slightly broadened toward stem apex; leaf blade oblong to elliptic, (0.6-)1-2 cm × (3-)5-8 mm, base narrowed, margin smooth or ciliolate, apex obtuse; vein 1, abaxially distinct. Lower to middle stem leaves widely spaced; upper leaves crowded and surrounding base of flowers. Inflorescences 3-8-flowered. Flowers in clusters, sessile or rarely lower pedunculate. Calyx tube narrowly obconic, 6-7 mm, membranous; lobes lanceolate, (0.7-)2.5-3 mm, unequal, margin smooth or ciliolate, apex acute, midvein indistinct. Corolla blue to blue-purple, urceolate, 2-2.6 cm; lobes ovate, 2-3 mm, margin entire, apex obtuse; plicae auricular to truncate, 1-1.5 mm, oblique, margin entire or denticulate. Stamens inserted at basal part of corolla tube; filaments 1.1-1.3 cm; anthers narrowly ellipsoid, 2-2.5 mm. Style 1-2 mm; stigma lobes oblong. Capsules ovoid-ellipsoid, 1.3-1.5 cm; gynophore to 8 mm, slender. Seeds light brown, ellipsoid to subglobose, 0.8-1 mm; seed coat with spongy complex pits. Fl. and fr. Sep.

Scrub slopes; ca. 4200 m. S and SE Xizang [Bhutan, NE India, Nepal, Sikkim].