珠芽景天 zhu ya jing tian

Sedum alfredii Hance var. bulbiferum (Makino) Fröderström; S. jinianum X. H. Guo.

Herbs perennial. Roots fibrous. Stems 7-22 cm; bulbils in leaf axils white, globose, viviparous. Proximal stem leaves opposite; leaf blade ovate-spatulate. Distal stem leaves alternate; leaf blade spatulate-oblanceolate, 10-15 × 2-4 mm, base tapered, apex obtuse. Cyme 3-branched, many flowered; branches 2-forked. Flowers unequally 5-merous. Sepals free, lanceolate to oblanceolate, 3-4 × ca. 1 mm, base shortly spurred, apex obtuse. Petals free, yellow, lanceolate, 4.5-5 × ca. 1.2 mm, apex mucronate. Stamens 10, ca. 3 mm. Nectar scales obovate, ca. 0.6 mm. Carpels basally connate for ca. 1 mm, apically divergent. Styles ca. 1 mm. Fl. Apr-Jul.

Shade of trees on mountains or plains; near sea level to 1000 m. Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Zhejiang [Japan].

No original material of Sedum jinianum has been seen by the present authors, but the differences from S. bulbiferum, as indicated in the protologue (Acta Bot. Yunnan. 18: 297. 1996), do not seem adequate to justify the recognition of a distinct species.