短果念珠芥 duan guo nian zhu jie

Torularia brachycarpa Vassilczenko, Fl. URSS 8: 635. 1939; Dichasianthus brachycarpus (Vassilczenko) Soják; Neotorularia bracteata (S. L. Yang) Z. X. An; N. conferta R. F. Huang; N. parvia (Z. X. An) Z. X. An; N. tibetica (Z. X. An) Z. X. An; Torularia bracteata S. L. Yang; T. conferta R. F. Huang; T. parvia Z. X. An; T. tibetica Z. X. An.

Herbs perennial, (1-)3-10(-2) cm tall, sparsely to densely covered with short-stalked or subsessile, submalpighiaceous or rarely 2-forked trichomes. Stems several to numerous from base, procumbent or decumbent. Basal leaves rosulate; petiole 1-6(-12) mm; leaf blade oblanceolate or oblong, (2-)3-15 × 1-3 mm, sparsely to densely pubescent, base attenuate or cuneate, margin dentate or pinnatifid, apex acute or obtuse. Cauline leaves similar to basal ones but progressively smaller upward, uppermost sessile to subsessile. Racemes bracteate throughout, rarely only along proximal half; bracts attached to rachis or pedicel. Fruiting pedicels subappressed to rachis, slender, much narrower than fruit, 0.5-2.5(-5) mm. Sepals oblong, 0.7-1.5 × 0.5-0.8 mm, not saccate at base. Petals white, spatulate, 1-2.5(-3) × 0.5-0.9(-1.1) mm, apex rounded. Filaments 1-1.5 mm; anthers ovate, 0.3-0.5 mm, apex apiculate. Ovules 20-40 per ovary. Fruit oblong, linear-lanceolate, or linear, widest at or near base, 3-10(-15) × 1-1.3 mm, often basally appressed or subappressed to rachis and distally curved away from it, terete, torulose, pubescent with submalpighiaceous trichomes; style 0.1-0.5 mm; stigma entire. Seeds oblong, subiseriate at least on proximal half of fruit, 0.5-0.8 × 0.3-0.4 mm. Fl. Jun-Aug, fr. Jul-Sep.

Gravelly slopes, sandy areas. Gansu, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Xizang [Tajikistan].

The alleged differences between Neotorularia bracteata, N. conferta, N. parvia, and N. tibetica in fruit length and bract position on the pedicel or rachis are artificial, and the four taxa easily fall within the general range of variation of N. brachycarpa.

Presently treated by Ihsan Al-Shehbaz as Braya parvia (Z. X. An) Al-Shehbaz (in press).