蔡氏马先蒿 cai shi ma xian hao

Herbs annual, 55--70 cm tall, glabrescent, ± drying black. Stems single or few, erect, stout. Basal leaves withering early. Stem leaves in whorls of 4; petiole 4--10 mm, glabrous; leaf blade ovate-oblong, ca. 4.5 X 3 cm, glabrous on both surfaces, pinnatifid to pinnatipartite; segments 6--8 pairs, ovate or oblong, deeply dentate. Inflorescences spicate, 6--8 cm; proximal bracts leaflike, distal ones ovate. Calyx ca. 1 cm, slightly cleft anteriorly, villous along veins; lobes 5, unequal. Corolla rose to purple throughout, ca. 2 cm; tube erect, ca. 1.5 X as long as calyx; galea bent at a right angle; beak decurved, ca. 6 mm, slender; lower lip 6--7 mm, ciliate, middle lobe ± hoodlike. Filaments glabrous. Capsule compressed, ovoid, 1.2--1.4 cm X 5--6 mm. Seeds 1.5--1.8 X ca. 0.8 mm. Fl. Aug, fr. Aug--Sep.

* Alpine meadows; 4000--4300 m. NW Yunnan.