绵参 mian shen

Herbs perennial. Roots thick, apex forked. Stems erect, 10-20 cm tall, unbranched, rigid, lanate. Petiole very short or obsolete; basal leaves scalelike, colorless, glabrous; upper leaves rhombic to circular, ca. 3-4 × 3-4 cm, reduced apically, densely lanate, base broadly cuneate, margin crenate to crenate-serrate near apex, apex acute, veins radiate from base. Bracteoles spinelike, to 1.2 cm, densely lanate. Flowers sessile. Calyx broadly campanulate, ca. 1.5 cm, densely lanate outside, glabrous inside, margin lanate; teeth ca. 7 mm, long acuminate. Corolla purplish to reddish, 2.2-2.8 cm, tube slightly incurved, 1.1-1.4 cm, densely lanate outside. Nutlets yellow-brown, ca. 3 mm. Fl. Jul-Sep, fr. Sep-Oct.

Alpine, stony alluvial fans; 2700-4700 m. Qinghai, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan [India, Nepal].

Roots used as a tonic.