亚高山冷水花 ya gao shan leng shui hua

Procris racemosa Royle, Ill. Bot. Himal. Mts. t. 83, f. 1. 1836; Pilea subalpina Handel-Mazzetti; P. wightii Weddell var. roylei J. D. Hooker.

Herbs perennial, weak, glabrous, monoecious or dioecious. Tuber whitish gray, globose, 3-20 mm in diam. Stems often branched, 2-15(-30) cm tall, succulent. Stipules persistent, triangular, ca. 1 mm, membranous; petiole subequal in length, 0.2-1 cm; leaf blade abaxially pale green, adaxially green, ovate, elliptic, rhombic, obovate, or suborbicular, subequal in size, 0.5-2 × 0.3-1.2 cm, succulent, herbaceous, 3(-5)-veined, rarely triplinerved, lateral veins 1-3 each side, inconspicuous, cystoliths fusiform, conspicuous on both surfaces, base rounded, subcordate, or broadly cuneate, margin bluntly 1-5-serrate each side or entire, apex subacute or obtuse. Inflorescences in pairs, male a capitulum or racemelike-cyme, 1-3.5 cm; female peduncle 0.2-2 cm. Male flowers pedicellate, in bud ca. 1.5 mm; perianth lobes 4, obovate-oblong, connate 1/2 of length, subapically corniculate, stamens 4; rudimentary ovary oblong. Female perianth lobes unequal, subapically corniculate. Achene narrowly ovoid or oblong-ovoid, ca. 0.8 mm, slightly compressed, smooth, enclosed by persistent perianth lobes. Fl. May-Jun, fr. Jul-Sep.

Tsuga or Picea forests, semishaded moist places, often on mossy rocks, sometimes on walls by villages; 2200-5400 m. W Sichuan, S Xizang, NW Yunnan, [Bhutan, N India, Nepal, Sikkim].

This species shows great variability in stem branching, leaf shape, leaf margin, and peduncle length. Plants found at higher elevations are shorter, often unbranched, have a less serrate leaf margin, and a shorter peduncle. This species is distinct in always having a globose tuber, capitate inflorescences, and a narrow, smooth achene.