矮小扁枝石松 ai xiao bian zhi shi song

Diphasiastrum veitchii (Christ) Holub; Lycopodium alpinum Linnaeus var. transmorrisonense Hayata; L. malacophyllum Handel-Mazzetti; L. sitchense Ruprecht var. veitchii (Christ) Takeda.

Plants small to medium-sized, terrestrial; aerial shoots creeping, 40-70 cm. Lateral branches suberect, 5-7 cm tall, dichotomously branched with well-differentiated lateral branchlets much branched, small stem together with leaves terete, not dorsiventral. Leaves spirally arranged, dense, linear-lanceolate to lanceolate, 2-4 × 0.6-1 mm, herbaceous, base not adnate to branchlets, sessile, margin slightly involute, entire, apex acuminate. Strobili solitary, terminal on peduncles (2-4 cm), pale yellow, terete, 2-3 cm; sporophyll broadly ovate, imbricate, ca. 4 × 2 mm, margin membranous, with irregular teeth, apex long acuminate. Sporangia enclosed.

Alpine slopes, forest margins; 2600-4000 m. W Hubei, W Sichuan, Taiwan, Xizang, NW Yunnan [Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal].