锥果葶苈 zhui guo ting li

Draba lanceolata var. brachycarpa O. E. Schulz; D. lanceolata var. leiocarpa O. E. Schulz; D. lanceolata var. sonamargensis O. E. Schulz; D. nichanaica O. E. Schulz; D. stylaris J. Gay ex E. A. Thomas var. leiocarpa L. L. Lou & T. Y. Cheo.

Herbs perennial, 10-30(-40) cm tall, cespitose. Caudex slender, few branched, ultimate branches terminated in rosettes, covered with petiolar remains of previous years. Stems erect, simple, tomentose with subsessile stellate trichomes. Basal leaves rosulate, persistent; petiole to 1.5 cm, often undifferentiated; leaf blade elliptic, oblong, or lanceolate, (0.4-)1-2(-3) cm × (1-)2-6 mm, tomentose with sessile or short-stalked, 4-rayed stellate trichomes 1 or 2 rays of which often branched, base attenuate to cuneate, margin entire or denticulate, apex acute. Cauline leaves 6-12(-16), sessile; leaf blade ovate, oblong, elliptic, or lanceolate, 0.7-2.6(-3.5) cm × 2-7(-10) mm, pubescent as basal leaves, often adaxially pilose with predominantly simple trichomes, base cuneate to obtuse, margin 2-5(-9)-toothed on each side, rarely entire, apex acute. Racemes (7-)14-32(-47)-flowered, ebracteate or lowermost flowers bracteate, elongated in fruit. Fruiting pedicels 2-4.5(-7) mm, erect or ascending, often appressed to rachis, straight, tomentose all around with subsessile, stellate trichomes sometimes mixed with simple ones. Sepals oblong or ovate, 1-2 × 0.5-0.8 mm, erect, abaxially pilose, base of lateral pair not saccate, margin membranous. Petals white, spatulate, 2.5-3.5 × 1-2 mm, apex subemarginate or rounded; claw absent or to 1 mm. Filaments 1.5-2 mm; anthers ovate, 0.2-0.3 mm. Ovules (26-)30-48(-56) per ovary. Fruit lanceolate to lanceolate-linear, (6-)7-11(-12) × 1.5-2 mm, erect and often appressed to rachis, latiseptate, rarely slightly twisted; valves tomentose or very rarely glabrous, obscurely veined, apex acute; style 0.1-0.6 mm. Seeds brown, ovate, 0.8-1.1 × 0.5-0.6 mm. Fl. and fr. Jun-Aug. 2n = 32.

Mountain slopes, meadows, scrub, gravelly streamsides, roadsides; 1100-4900 m. Gansu, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Xizang [Afghanistan, India, Kashmir, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Sikkim, Tajikistan, E Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan].

Schulz confused the limits of Draba ladyginii, D. lanceolata, D. lasiophylla, and D. mongolica, as evidenced from the varieties he described originally under certain species and in his monograph transferred to others. The first two species are easily separated from the latter two by having usually more than 30 instead of less than 24 ovules/seeds per fruit. Other characters that distinguish the four species are given in the key above.

The records of Draba incana Linnaeus and D. stylaris J. Gay ex E. A. Thomas from China (e.g., FRPS 168-171; Fl. Qinghai. 1: 449. 1995; Fl. Sichuan. 14: 74. 1999; Fl. Xinjiang. 2(2): 123-126. 1995; Fl. Xizang. 2: 354-355. 1985) are based on misidentified plants of D. lanceolata. True D. incana (including D. stylaris) occurs only in Europe and North America (Canada and N United States). It differs from D. lanceolata in being biennial (instead of perennial with a distinct caudex) and in having fruits elliptic to oblong and glabrous (instead of almost always lanceolate to lanceolate-linear and tomentose).