中国龙胆 zhong guo long dan

Perennials 5-15 cm tall. Stolons to 20 cm, much branched. Stems ascending, simple, papillate. Leaves widely spaced, uppermost crowded and surrounding base of flower cluster; petiole 3-4 mm, slightly broadened toward stem apex; leaf blade ovate-elliptic to ovate-orbicular, 0.6-1.5 cm × 3-7 mm, both ends obtuse, margin ciliolate; vein 1, abaxially distinct. Inflorescences 1-3(-5)-flowered. Calyx tube 7-10 mm, membranous; lobes linear, ovate, or triangular, 1.5-2(-4) mm, unequal, ciliolate, apex acute. Corolla blue, tubular, 3-3.5 cm; lobes ovate to triangular, 3-3.5 mm, margin entire or denticulate, apex acute; plicae obliquely triangular to truncate, 0.8-1.2 mm, margin entire or denticulate. Stamens inserted just below middle of corolla tube to base of lobes; filaments 0.9-1.1 cm; anthers narrowly ellipsoid, 1.5-2 mm. Style 4-5 mm; stigma lobes linear. Capsules narrowly ellipsoid to ovoid-ellipsoid, 1.3-1.5 cm; gynophore to 9-10 mm, slender. Seeds light brown, broadly ellipsoid to subglobose, 0.8-1 mm; seed coat with simple pits. Fl. and fr. Jul-Oct.

* Grassland slopes, rocky places, roadsides, forests; 2400-4500 m. W Hubei, SW Sichuan, NW Yunnan.