小叶蓼 xiao ye liao

Koenigia delicatula (Meisner) H. Hara.

Herbs annual. Stems tufted, erect, 8-15 cm tall, slender, glabrous. Petiole short or nearly absent; leaf blade ovate, 4-8 × 3-5 mm, both surfaces glabrous, base cordate, margin entire, not ciliate, apex acute; ocrea yellow-brown, tubular, membranous, glabrous, 1.5-2 mm, apex 2-cleft. Inflorescence axillary, capitate, small; peduncle very short; bracts ovate, membranous. Pedicel short, articulate at apex. Perianth white, 5-parted; outer tepals 2, smaller, apex obtuse; inner tepals 3, broadly ovate, large, ca. 1.5 mm, apex acute. Stamens 3. Styles 3, ca. 0.3 mm; stigmas capitate. Achenes exceeding persistent perianth, yellow-brown, shiny, narrowly ovoid, trigonous, 2-2.5 mm. Fl. Jul-Aug, fr. Aug-Sep. 2n = 28.

Alpine meadows, mountain slopes; 2600-4300 m. Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan [Bhutan, N India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sikkim].