藏小沿沟草 zang xiao yan gou cao

Paracolpodium tibeticum (Bor) E. B. Alexeev.

Perennial, shortly rhizomatous. Culms erect, 12–21 cm tall, 2–3-noded. Leaf sheaths slightly inflated, longer than internodes, purple at blade junction, old basal sheaths becoming fibrous; leaf blades folded or lower flat, up to 7 cm × 3–4 mm, glabrous or puberulent; ligule 4–6 mm. Panicle oblong or pyramidal in outline, open, 3–7 × 1–3 cm, shortly exserted from uppermost leaf sheath; branches 2 per node, up to 1.5 cm, 3–4 spikelets clustered at tips with lateral pedicels much shorter than spikelet, reflexed at maturity. Spikelets 5–6 mm, floret 1, purple; glumes lanceolate, equal, equaling or longer than floret, glabrous, apex acuminate, sometimes slightly recurved; lemma ca. 4 mm, 3-veined, densely pilose along veins below middle, apex rounded; palea keels pilose; rachilla extension present, short. Stamens 2; anthers 2.7–3 mm. Fl. and fr. Jun–Aug.

Moist grassy or stony places in high mountains; 4500–5500 m. S Xizang (Cona) [Bhutan, Nepal].

When describing Colpodium tibeticum, Bor annotated the herbarium specimen Ludlow, Sherriff & Hicks 20796 (BM) as the holotype, but in the protologue he indicated the specimen Kingdon Ward 11688 (BM) as the holotype. The Kingdon Ward specimen must therefore be taken as the correct holotype of the name.