天山囊果紫堇 tian shan nang guo zi jin

Cysticorydalis fedtschenkoana (Regel) Fedde.

Herbs, perennial, metallic gray-glaucous, fleshy, basal part hidden in scree. Rootstock elongate, narrow, branched. Stems ascending, 10-15 cm, base thin and leafless, upper part with 1-3 small leaves. Radical leaves several, spreading on scree; petiole 7-15 cm; blade ovate, 10-18 × 5-8 cm, tripinnate with ca. 10 pairs of primary leaflets; ultimate lobes densely crowded, ovate, folded/channeled, obtuse to mucronate. Cauline leaves much reduced. Raceme capitate, 20-40-flowered; lowermost bract(s) leaflike, middle and upper bracts oblong to lanceolate, slightly longer than pedicels, entire. Sepals 2-5 mm, dentate, with ovate body abruptly narrowed into a narrow tip. Flowers straight, white with blackish purple apical keels. Upper petal ca. 2 cm, without crest; spur swollen and downcurved at tip, 8-9 mm; inner petals 11-12 mm, claw shorter than limb. Stigma rounded, with 8-10 papillae. Capsule globose, inflated, 2-3.5 cm, fruit wall membranous when dry, with reticulate veins. Seeds brownish black, ca. 2 mm, flattened with obtuse back; caruncle small, deeply divided. Fl. and fr. Jul.

Alpine scree; 3700-4500 m. W Xinjiang (Taxkorgan, Tian Shan) [Afghanistan, Tajikistan; C Asia (Pamir-Alai)].