毛叶老牛筋 mao ye lao niu jin

Arenaria capillaris var. glabra Fenzl; A. capillaris var.glabrata (Seringe) Schischkin; A. subulata Seringe var. glabrata Seringe.

Herbs perennial. Stems 12--15 cm; mature branches woody, with withered, persistent leaves at base; new branches slender, firm, glabrous proximally, becoming glandular pubescent distally. Leaf blade linear, 2--5 cm, base broadened, margin coarsely and weakly serrate, apex acute; basal leaves densely fasciculate; cauline leaves sheathing at base, clasping at inflated nodes. Cymes few to many flowered; bracts ovate, 2--3 × ca. 1.5 mm, scarious, 1-veined, base clasping, apex long acuminate. Pedicel slender, stiff, glabrous. Sepals 5, yellow abaxially, ovate, ca. 5 × 2 mm, glabrous, 3-veined. Petals 5, white, obovate, ca. 7 × 3 mm, base shortly clawed, apex obtuse. Stamens 10; filaments opposite sepals with a gland at base. Ovary ovoid. Styles 3, linear. Fl. Jul--Aug.

Open montane grasslands, gravelly mountain summits; ca. 900 m. Hebei, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol [Mongolia, Russia; North America].