Bistorta amplexicaulis (D. Don) Greene subsp. sinomontana (Samuelsson) Yonekura & H. Ohashi; B. sinomontana (Samuelsson) F. Miyamoto.

Herbs perennial. Rhizomes horizontal, black-brown, large, ca. 12 cm, 1-3 cm in diam. Stems usually numerous from rhizome, erect, 30-50 cm tall, glabrous, simple, sometimes branched at lower part. Basal leaves long petiolate; petiole 4-14 cm; leaf blade broadly lanceolate or lanceolate, 6-16 × 1-3 cm, subleathery, abaxially sometimes puberulent along veins, adaxially glabrous, both surfaces with prominent veins, base cuneate or truncate, decurrent along petiole forming a narrow wing, margin revolute, apex acuminate. Cauline leaves shortly petiolate, lanceolate, smaller; upper leaves subsessile; ocrea brown throughout, tubular, 3-6 cm, membranous, apex oblique, not ciliate, cleft to base. Inflorescence terminal, spicate, 2-6 cm, 1-1.5 cm in diam.; bracts ovate-lanceolate, 3-4 mm, apex acuminate, each 2- or 3-flowered. Pedicel 4-5 mm, slender. Perianth red, 5-parted; tepals oblong, 3-5 mm. Stamens 8, exserted. Styles 3; stigmas capitate. Achenes included in persistent perianth, brown, shiny, broadly ellipsoid, trigonous, 3-4 mm. Fl. Jul-Aug, fr. Sep-Oct.

* Grassy slopes, mixed forests in valleys; 2500-3900 m. Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan.