草甸龙胆 cao dian long dan

Perennials 5-11 cm tall. Roots cylindric, slender, fleshy. Stems purple, erect, dichotomously branched from base, densely papillate. Basal leaves developed, not withered at anthesis; petiole 3-5 mm, margin densely ciliolate; leaf blade elliptic to ovate-lanceolate, 1.5-2.5 cm × 4-7 mm, abaxially glabrous, adaxially densely and minutely papillate, margin indistinctly cartilaginous and densely ciliolate, apex obtuse, midvein distinct and slender. Stem leaves widely spaced; petiole tube 0.5-0.7 mm; leaf blade broadly elliptic to ovate, 5-13 × 2.5-8 mm, shorter than internodes, abaxially glabrous, adaxially densely and minutely papillate, margin indistinctly cartilaginous and densely ciliolate, apex obtuse, midvein slender. Flowers many, 2 or 3 crowded into uppermost leaf axils, subsessile. Calyx campanulate, 6.5-7.5 mm, tube membranous; lobes green, usually recurved, elliptic-lanceolate to elliptic, 2-3 mm, subleathery, margin indistinctly cartilaginous and densely ciliolate, apex acute to caudate, midvein distinct. Corolla blue to dark blue, outside with stripes, broadly tubular, 0.7-1.5 cm; lobes ovate, 2-2.5 mm, margin entire, apex obtuse; plicae semiorbicular, 1-1.2 mm, margin denticulate, apex rounded. Stamens inserted at middle of corolla tube, equal; filaments 2.5-3 mm; anthers ellipsoid, 1-1.5 mm. Style 1-1.5 mm; stigma lobes linear. Capsules obovoid, 4-4.5 mm; gynophore to 8 mm. Seeds brown, ellipsoid, 0.7-0.8 mm. Fl. and fr. Jun-Oct.

* Grassland slopes, dry hillsides, forests; 1200-3200 m. Guizhou, Sichuan, NW Yunnan.