美丽肋柱花 mei li lei zhu hua

Swertia bella Hemsley in F. B. Forbes & Hemsley, J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 26: 138. 1890.

Annuals 7-40 cm tall. Stems erect, angular, few to much branched from base; branches crowded, glabrous. Leaves sessile; lower to middle stem leaves ovate to subcordate, 1.6-2.8 cm × 5-11 mm; upper leaves ovate-lanceolate; base of all leaves rounded to subcordate and subamplexicaul, apex acute, midvein abaxially distinct. Inflorescences racemelike, usually in many-flowered panicles. Flowers 5merous. Pedicel spreading to erect, to 13 cm, angular, glabrous. Calyx tube 1-1.5 mm; lobes ovate-lanceolate, 0.7-1.7 cm × 2-4.5 mm, base obtuse, apex acute, midvein distinct. Corolla pale blue, with dark blue lines, 1.5-2.5 cm in diam., tube 1-1.5 mm; lobes obovate-oblong, elliptic, or narrowly oblong-ovate, 1.3-2 cm, apex acuminate to obtuse. Nectary connate at base into a tube pointed outward, apex lamellate, margin lobed. Filaments 8-11 mm; anthers blue, narrowly ellipsoid, ca. 4 mm. Ovary ensiform to ovoid-ellipsoid, 1-1.5 cm, apex triangular acute. Stigma lobes triangular, decurrent to apical part of ovary. Capsules narrowly obovoid-ellipsoid, 1.8-2.2 cm. Seeds brown, ellipsoid, 0.6-0.8 mm in diam.; seed coat scabrous. Fl. and fr. Aug-Oct.

* Grassland slopes, wet and shady places, forests; 1300-3200 m. W Hubei, S Shaanxi, E Sichuan, Yunnan.