三叶龙胆 san ye long dan

Perennials 4-10 cm tall. Stems ascending, simple, papillate. Basal rosette leaves poorly developed; leaf blade triangular, 5-10 × 1.5-2 mm, herbaceous, apex acute. Stem leaves in whorls of ca. 3, larger and more crowded toward apex, uppermost leaves surrounding calyx; leaf blade base connate for 2-3 mm, margin smooth, midvein abaxially distinct. Lower stem leaves withered at anthesis, lanceolate to ovate, 5-8 × 1.5-2 mm, apex acute; middle to upper leaves linear to linear-lanceolate, 0.8-1.7 cm × 1.5-2 mm, apex acuminate. Flowers terminal, solitary, sessile, 5merous. Calyx tube obconic, 1.2-1.4 cm, membranous; lobes linear, 1-1.7 mm, herbaceous, margin smooth, apex acuminate, midvein distinct. Corolla blue, with dark blue stripes, tubular-campanulate to funnelform, 4.5-6(-7) cm; lobes ovate-triangular, 5-6 mm, margin entire, apex obtuse and cuspidate; plicae ovate, 2-2.5 mm, margin denticulate, apex obtuse. Stamens inserted at middle of corolla tube; filaments 1-1.2 cm; anthers ellipsoid, 2-2.5 mm. Ovary narrowly ellipsoid, 1.1-1.3 cm; gynophore 1.6-1.8 cm. Style 3-4 mm; stigma lobes triangular. Fl. Apr-May.

* Wet meadows; 3000-4100 m. N Yunnan.