掌叶紫堇 zhang ye zi jin

Herbs, perennial, 10-20 cm tall, glabrous; stems and petioles of radical leaves attenuate to filiform underground base. Storage roots densely fasciculate, broadly elliptic to nearly globose, 5-15 × 3-8 mm, sessile. Stems 1 to few, simple, with (1 or)2(-4) leaves. Radical leaves few; petiole 2-6 cm, thin; blade glaucous abaxially, green adaxially, ternate; leaflets broadly obovate, cleft into rounded lobes. Cauline leaves very shortly petiolate or sessile, ternate; leaflets sessile or shortly stalked, shallowly to deeply divided into obovate-obtuse to oblong lobes. Raceme 3-6 cm, at fruiting to 9 cm, 5-12-flowered; bracts 7-16 mm, lowest bracts larger, deeply cleft into 3 or 4 obovate obtuse lobes; middle and upper bracts obovate to lanceolate, entire or with 1 or 2 small lateral lobes. Pedicel 4-6 mm, in fruit erect and 7-12 mm. Sepals minute or to 0.5 mm, slightly dentate. Corolla clear blue to purplish blue; upper petal 16-20 mm, petal lobes navicular-subacute, without crest; spur slightly tapering to a slightly downcurved apex, 9-12 mm; nectary ca. 2/5 as long as spur; lower petal navicular-oblanceolate, 8-10 mm, acute; inner petals 7-8 mm. Stigma square, marginal simple papillae 4-6; geminate papillae lateral (clearly laminal, i.e., not at margin of stigma) and 2 on short basal lobes. Capsule pendent from erect pedicel, elliptic, 11-15 × ca. 3 mm, 14-20-seeded. Seeds in 2 rows, 1-1.1 mm, smooth. Fl. and fr. Jun-Sep.

● Meadows, limestone crevices; 2900-3100 m. NW Yunnan (Binchuan, Dali, Eryuan).