小龙胆 xiao long dan

Annuals 1.5-2.5 cm tall. Stems erect, 2 or 3 × branched from base or simple. Leaf blade puberulent, margin narrowly cartilaginous, apex rounded; veins 1-3, abaxially distinct. Basal leaves withered at anthesis; petiole 0.5-1 mm; leaf blade broadly elliptic to suborbicular, 0.7-2.2 cm × 4-8 mm. Stem leaves crowded, 3 or 4 pairs; petiole 1-1.5 mm, entirely connate; leaf blade elliptic to ovate, 5-8 × 3-5 mm. Flowers few, sessile. Calyx tubular, 8-9 mm, outside puberulent; lobes ovate-lanceolate, 2-2.5 mm, margin narrowly cartilaginous, apex acute and caudate, midvein distinct. Corolla greenish yellow or inside sometimes pale blue, tubular, 1.2-1.4 cm; lobes ovate-lanceolate, 2-3 mm, margin entire, apex acute and caudate; plicae ovate, 1.5-2.5 mm, margin entire, apex obtuse. Stamens inserted at middle of corolla tube, unequal; filaments 1.5-3 mm; anthers narrowly ellipsoid, 1.2-1.5 mm. Style 2-3 mm; stigma lobes linear. Capsules narrowly obovoid to obovoid, 6-9 mm; gynophore to 8 mm, stout. Seeds brown, ellipsoid, (1.2-)1.5-1.8 mm. Fl. and fr. Apr-Aug.

* Sandy places; ca. 3300 m. SW Sichuan.