犁头草 li tou cao

Viola crassicalcarata Ching J. Wang; V. concordifolia C. J. Wang var. hirtipedicellata Ching J. Wang; V. japonica var. stenopetala Franchet ex H. Boissieu.

Herbs perennial, acaulescent, rosette-forming. Rhizome short, 5-7 mm, robust, ca. 5 mm in diam., densely noded; roots numerous, whitish, elongated, robust. Leaves numerous, basal; stipules narrowly ovate, 2-3 cm × 3-4 mm, ca. 2/3 adnate to petioles, margin remotely ciliate, apex acuminate; petiole usually subequaling blade at anthesis, conspicuously exceeding blade at fruiting, very narrowly winged in uppermost part, usually glabrous; leaf blade ovate, broadly ovate, or triangular-ovate, 3-8 × 3-5.5 cm, both surfaces sparsely puberulous or rarely glabrescent, base deeply or broadly cordate, margin densely crenate, apex acute or slightly obtuse. Flowers light purplish or whitish violet; pedicels not exceeding leaves, puberulous or glabrous, 2-bracteolate near middle; bracteoles linear-lanceolate, ca. 8 mm. Sepals broadly lanceolate, 5-7 × ca. 2 mm, apex acuminate, basal auricles 2-3 mm, apex truncate or 2-denticulate. Upper petals oblong-obovate, 1.3-1.5 cm × 5-6 mm, lateral ones oblong-obovate, 1.1-1.3 cm × 5-6 mm, sparsely bearded or glabrous, anterior one narrowly obovate, 1.7-2 cm (spur included), apex emarginate; spur cylindric, 6-8 mm, 2.5-3.4 mm in diam.; spur of anterior 2 stamens long, 2-3 mm, slender. Ovary conic, glabrous; styles clavate, base slightly geniculate, thickened in upper part; stigmas flat at top, conspicuously margined on lateral sides and abaxially, shortly beaked in front, with a broad stigma hole at tip of beak. Capsule ellipsoid, ca. 1 cm. Fl. Mar and Oct, fr. May-Oct.

Sunny or half shaded places in lowlands; below 1100 m. Anhui, Chongqing, Fujian, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Zhejiang [Japan, Korea].