胀萼蓝钟花 zhang e lan zhong hua

Cyananthus forrestii Diels; C. pseudoinflatus P. C. Tsoong.

Stems erect or ascending, up to 80 cm, branched, sparsely villous or glabrous. Leaves alternate, sparse; petiole slender, 2-7 mm, villous; blade orbicular, ovate, or triangular, 5-15 × 3-10 mm, abaxially hirsute, adaxially hispidulous, base rounded, truncate, or obtuse, margin entire or obscurely crenulate, apex obtuse. Flowers usually solitary, terminal on main stems and branches, subtended by a whorl-like aggregation of 3-5 leaves; pedicels 2-5 mm, slender, brown hirsute. Calyx densely brown hirsute outside; tube urceolate at anthesis, 7-12 mm, becoming conspicuously inflated after flowering; lobes 5, deltoid, 1/4-2/5 as long as tube, both sides brown hirsute. Corolla pale blue, cylindrical-campanulate, almost 2 × as long as calyx, outside glabrous, inside densely villous at throat; lobes 5, narrowly obovate, nearly 1/2 as long as tube. Ovary slightly shorter than calyx; style extending up to corolla throat. Capsules ovoid, exceeding calyx in height at maturity, 5-loculicidal. Seeds brown-red, ellipsoid, ca. 0.5 × 0.2 mm, obtuse at both ends. Fl. Aug-Sep. 2n = 14.

Alpine meadows, grassy and shrubby slopes; 1900-4900 m. W Guizhou (Weining), W Sichuan, S Xizang, N Yunnan [Bhutan, N India, Myanmar, Nepal].