厚边龙胆 hou bian long dan

Annuals 2-6 cm tall. Stems ascending to erect, branched throughout, densely papillate. Basal leaves withered at anthesis; petiole 0.5-1 mm; leaf blade ovate, 6-8 × 3-5 mm, base obtuse, margin thick cartilaginous, apex acute and cuspidate, midvein distinct. Stem leaves crowded to sometimes widely spaced; petiole tube 0.5-1 mm, papillate; leaf blade elliptic to ovate-elliptic, 5-7 × 2-4 mm, base obtuse, margin thick cartilaginous, apex obtuse and cuspidate, midvein distinct. Flowers subsessile. Calyx narrowly obconic, 4.5-7 mm, tube membranous; lobes erect to rarely slightly spreading, ovate, 1.5-3 mm, base narrowed, margin thick cartilaginous, apex acute and cuspidate, midvein prominent. Corolla blue, tubular, 7-8 mm; lobes ovate, 1.5-2 mm, margin entire, apex obtuse; plicae ovate, 1-1.5 mm, margin entire or few dentate, apex obtuse. Stamens inserted at basal part of corolla tube, equal; filaments 1.5-2.5 mm; anthers narrowly ellipsoid, 0.7-0.9 mm. Style 0.7-1 mm; stigma lobes narrowly oblong. Capsules narrowly obovoid to obovoid, 4-5 mm; gynophore 8-9 mm, stout. Seeds light brown, ellipsoid, 0.6-0.8 mm. Fl. and fr. May-Aug.

Grassland slopes; ca. 3000 m. SW Sichuan, SE Xizang [Bhutan].