小尖堇菜 xiao jian jin cai

Herbs perennial, nearly acaulescent, or stem short, only ca. 1 cm. Rhizome long, slender; internodes remote. Stolon to 15 cm, slender, glabrous, producing numerous adventitious roots at nodes, top developing into a new plant. Leaves nearly basal or clustered on shortened stem; stipules adnate to petioles only at base, free part lanceolate, brown striate, margin long fimbriate-dentate; petioles subequaling blades, to 7 cm, glabrous; leaf blade abaxially gray-green, adaxially deep green, ovate-cordate or elliptic-cordate, 2-5 × 1.5-3 cm, both surfaces glabrous, abaxially often sparsely spinose along raised midvein, base narrowly cordate, margin serrate, 6-10-toothed on each side, teeth suborbicular, conspicuously spinose at apices, spines spreading or bending forward and often reddish glandular at apices, apex acute. Flowers white or purplish; pedicels subequaling or slightly shorter than leaves, 2-bracteolate above middle; bracteoles linear. Sepals lanceolate, ca. 5 × 1-1.2 mm, glabrous, margin narrowly membranous, basal auricles short, less than 1 mm, apex truncate, sparsely shallowly dentate. Petals obovate, upper ones subequaling lateral ones, ca. 1.3 × 0.5 cm, lateral ones glabrous, anterior one shorter, ca. 1.1 cm × ca. 3 mm (spur included); spur saccate, short, 2-2.5 mm, stout, 2-2.5 mm in diam.; spur of 2 anterior stamens acutangular, ca. 2 mm, subequaling anthers. Ovary oblong-globose, glabrous; styles clavate, base slightly geniculate, gradually thickened upward; stigmas slightly raised at apex, thickened and narrowly margined on lateral sides, inconspicuously beaked at apex, with a small stigma hole open upward at tip of beak. Capsule ellipsoid, ca. 6 mm, glabrous. Fl. Mar-Apr, fr. May-Jun.

● Mountain forests, forest margins, grasslands; 1300-1900 m. Guangxi, Guizhou, Sichuan, Yunnan.