心叶梅花草 xin ye mei hua cao

Parnassia nubicola Wallich ex Royle var. cordata Drude, Linnaea 39: 316. 1875.

Stems 1-3, 28-32 cm, often with 1 leaf near middle. Basal leaves (2 or)3-7; petiole brown striate, slender, 4-16 cm; leaf blade ovate-cordate, 3-4.1 × 3-4.1 cm, arcuate 7-veined with veins prominent abaxially, base deeply cordate, apex rounded, apiculate. Cauline leaf sessile, semiamplexicaul, cordate, 2-3 cm, base with several rusty brown appendages. Flower 2-2.5 cm in diam.; hypanthium campanulate. Sepals oblong, ca. 6 × 4 mm, conspicuously arcuate 7-veined, margin entire, apex obtuse. Petals white, purple-veined, densely punctate, obovate-oblong, 1.3-1.5 cm × 8-10 mm, base cuneate, margin shortly fimbriate or erose in proximal 1/3, entire in distal 2/3, apex rounded. Anthers oblong, 0.8-1.4 mm; filaments ca. 7 mm; staminodes flat, ca. 3 mm, stalk ca. 1.5 × 1.3 mm, lamina 3-lobed to middle, lobes lanceolate. Ovary semi-inferior, ovoid; styles ca. 2 mm; stigma 3-lobed, lobes oblong. Capsule depressed globose, ca. 1 cm in diam. Seeds brown, glossy. Fl. Jul-Aug, fr. Sep.

Alpine meadows; 3200-4100 m. NW Yunnan (Bijiang Xian) [India].

Parnassia cordata was originally described by Drude (loc. cit.) as a variety of P. nubicola. However, the present authors treat P. cordata as a distinct species because it strongly differs from P. nubicola in having slender stems and ovate-cordate basal leaf blades with a deeply cordate base.