白鳞酢浆草 bai lin cu jiang cao

Oxalis acetosella Linnaeus subsp. leucolepis (Diels) C. C. Huang & L. R. Xu.

Perennials to 12(-15) cm tall, slender. Rhizome creeping underground, very slender, very sparsely covered with fleshy pale brown scalelike remains of leaf bases, ca. 0.5 mm thick not including scales, 1.5-2 mm thick including scales; scales pale brown, usually widely spaced, glabrous. Petiole 6-11 cm; leaflet blades rounded-obcordate, 1-1.8 × 1.1-2 cm, abaxially pubescent and often purplish, adaxially glabrous, apex deeply emarginate; lobe apices rounded. Flowers solitary, nodding; peduncle as long as or longer than leaves; bracts 2 at middle of flowering stalk, rounded-ovate to ovate, ca. 2 mm, translucent, glabrous. Sepals ovate-lanceolate, ca. 5 mm, persistent. Petals white, purplish veined, spotted dark purple at base, 0.9-1.4 cm. Fl. Jul-Aug.

Shaded Abies, Pinus, and mixed forests, among moss and boulders; 2800-4000 m. SE Xizang, Yunnan [Bhutan, India (Sikkim), Myanmar, Nepal].

The taxonomy of this and the following three species is not clearly resolved, with some preferring to recognize just one species with several infraspecific taxa.