华北玄参 hua bei xuan shen

Perennials, to 60 cm tall. Stems subterete, narrowly winged, hollow, often glandular hairy apically. Leaves on lower nodes scalelike. Stem leaves petiole 0.5-2.5 cm; leaf blade ovate, oblong-ovate, or rarely oblong-lanceolate, to 10 cm, base broadly cuneate to occasionally subtruncate, margin often coarsely irregularly double toothed. Thyrses terminal; cymes opposite or whorled; lower whorls ca. 4 cm distant from each other; peduncle short, densely glandular hairy. Flowers crowded. Pedicel short, densely glandular hairy. Calyx oblique, less than 3 mm; lobes ovate. Corolla yellow, ca. 7 mm, outside sparsely glandular puberulent; tube subglobose; lower lip lobes orbicular, middle lobe smaller than other lobes; upper lip ca. 2 mm longer than lower lip, margin entire or retuse. Stamens as long as corolla tube; staminode small. Ovary ca. 2 mm, 1/3-1/2 as long as style. Style slender. Capsule ovoid, ca. 7 mm. Fl. Jul, fr. Jul-Aug.

* Among shady rocks, mountain tops; 1500-2000 m. Shanxi (Taihang Shan).