春花紫堇 chun hua zi jin

Herbs, perennial, 4-10 cm tall, glabrous; stems and petioles of radical leaves attenuate to filiform underground base. Storage roots fascicled, narrowly fusiform, 10-40 × 1-3 mm. Stems 1-5, erect to ascending, simple, with 0-2 leaves. Radical leaves 2-5 or more; petiole 2-6 cm; blade glaucous, orbicular, 1-2.5 cm, ternate to sub-biternate, with 5-10 broadly obovate overlapping lobes. Cauline leaves sessile or subsessile; blade palmately cut to base into 3-6 oblanceolate to narrowly obovate lobes 0.5-1.5 cm × 1-4 mm, apex obtuse. Raceme very dense, 3-7-flowered; bracts 6-10 mm, palmatisect to ca. 2/3 into 3-7 oblong lobes (median lobe often larger). Pedicel erect, 5-10 mm. Sepals minute. Corolla clear blue; outer petals obtuse, usually with narrow crest to 0.5 mm; upper petal 11-13 mm, apex upwardly reflexed; spur cylindric or slightly tapering, 6-8 mm; nectary ca. 1/2 as long as spur; lower petal 8-10 mm, apex broad, obtuse, claw sometimes with a small gibbosity at base; inner petals 7-9 mm; dorsal crest broad, rounded, overtopping apex. Stigma didymous, cleft to 1/2-2/3, division flanked by 2 very long narrow papillae, lateral marginal papillae broad, diffuse; geminate papillae in basal corners. Capsule unknown; ovules numerous (23 or 24); style ca. 2 mm. Fl. Mar-Jun.

● Open stony slopes; 4000-5000 m. E Xizang (Zogang).