秦岭紫堇 qin ling zi jin

Corydalis cristata Maximowicz var. ramosa C. Y. Wu & H. Chuang.

Herbs, perennial, 10-28 cm tall, glabrous; stems and petioles of radical leaves attenuate to filiform underground base. Storage roots numerous, fasciculate, oblong to obovoid, 2-4 cm × 1.5-4 mm. Stems 1 or few, slender, simple or branched, with (1 or)2(or 3) leaves in upper 2/3. Radical leaves long petiolate; blade quinate; segments broadly elliptic, fleshy, sessile. Cauline leaves (1 or)2(or 3); petiole 1-5 cm, or upper leaf subsessile; blade gray-glaucous abaxially, glaucous adaxially, ternate to imparipinnate with 2 pairs of leaflets, rarely biternate; ultimate lobes broadly elliptic, 2-4 × 0.8-1.5 cm, fleshy, abaxially with thick raised parallel veins, apex obtuse to acute. Raceme 5-12-flowered, at first dense, soon lax, simple or with a basal branch; bracts ovate-lanceolate to ovate-rhombic, 6-10 mm, entire. Pedicel 6-10 mm, recurved in fruit. Sepals ca. 0.2 mm, dentate. Corolla yellow; upper petal 19-22 mm, petal lobes navicular-ovate, apex acute to shortly acuminate, abaxial crest 1-1.5 mm wide, tapering to both ends, narrowly decurrent on spur; spur slightly downcurved, conical, 8-10 mm; lower petal ca. 11 mm, apex acuminate, abaxial crest short, claw almost straight but with a small appendage at base; inner petals ca. 9 mm. Capsule oblong, 10-16 × 2-2.5 mm, 5-8-seeded; style ca. 2 mm. Seeds in 1 row, 1.5-1.8 mm, smooth. Fl. and fr. Jul-Aug.

● Mountain summits, grassy slopes, stony crevices; (1400-)2500-3300(-3800) m. Chongqing (Chengkou), Henan (Lushi), W Hubei, Shaanxi (Baoji, Foping, Taibei), NE Sichuan (Wuxi).