云南堇菜 yun nan jin cai

Herbs perennial. Rhizome elongate, obliquely ascending or procumbent and stemlike, with adventitious roots at nodes. Stem absent or shorter, less than 2 cm. Stolon to 37 cm, slender, usually densely white puberulous, with clustered leaves at top and often producing a new plant. Leaves nearly basal or alternate on stolon; stipules mostly free, glaucous, lanceolate, 1-1.3 cm, membranous, margin fimbriate-dentate, apex narrowly long acuminate; petioles unequal in length, 3-8 cm, densely spreading white puberulous; leaf blade abaxially gray-green, adaxially deep or dark green, oblong or oblong-ovate, 3-8 × 2-4 cm, broadest near middle, both surfaces densely gray-white puberulous, more densely so on young leaves, base shallowly and narrowly cordate, margin large crenate, apex acute or acuminate. Flowers white, 1.5-1.7 cm, ca. 1.5 cm in diam.; pedicels of cleistogamous flowers produced from basal leaf axils much shorter than leaves, those on stolon much longer than leaves; pedicels densely puberulous, 2-bracteolate above middle; bracteoles opposite, linear, 8-10 mm. Sepals linear-lanceolate or lanceolate, 5-7 mm, basal auricles short, sparsely white puberulous along veins, 3-veined, margin densely ciliate. Upper petals oblong, 1.3-1.5 cm × 5-6.5 mm, lateral ones ca. 1 cm, usually shortly bearded, anterior one shorter, deeply veined, 8-9 mm (spur included), apex acute; spur saccate, very short, ca. 1.5 mm, slightly curved downward; spur of 2 anterior stamens very shortly angular. Ovary ovoid-globose, glabrous; styles clavate, base nearly erect, gradually thickened upward; stigmas narrowly margined, shortly beaked in front, beak straight, with a smaller stigma hole at tip. Capsule green, oblong or subglobose, small, 5-7 mm. Seeds globose. Fl. Feb-Jun, fr. May-Dec.

Mountain forests, grasslands along forest margins, moist places on rocks along streamsides and roadsides; 1300-2400 m. Hainan, S Yunnan [Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Vietnam].