红萼毛茛 hong e mao gen

Ranunculus rufosepalus Franchet var. parviflorus Komarov.

Herbs perennial. Stems 2 or 3, 5--12 cm, glabrous for most part, sparsely puberulent only below flowers, branched above. Basal leaves ca. 4; petiole 1.5--5 cm, glabrous or subglabrous; blade 3-sect, broadly ovate, 1.4--2 × 2.2--2.6 cm, papery, glabrous except for ciliate margin, base cordate, central segment broadly rhombic-ovate or broadly obovate, 3-lobed, lateral lobes often pectinately lobulate; lateral segments oblique flabellate, unequally 2-partite. Stem leaves 2, sessile or subsessile, nearly 3-sect; segments lanceolate, glabrous, entire or 1- or 2-dentate at margin. Flowers solitary, terminal, 1.5--2 cm in diam. Receptacle puberulent. Sepals 5, dark red, ovate, 5--9 mm, abaxially yellowish puberulent. Petals 5, broadly obovate, 7--10 × 6--9 mm, nectary pit without a scale, apex subtruncate or truncate-rounded. Stamens numerous; anthers narrowly oblong. Aggregate fruit subglobose. Achene oblong-obovoid, 1.5--2 mm, glabrous; style persistent, short, hooked at apex. Fl. May--Jul.

Alpine meadows, slopes, by rivers; 1400--3300 m. Xinjiang (Tian Shan, Yining Shi) [Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, N Pakistan].