合萼肋柱花 he e lei zhu hua

Swertia gamosepala Burkill, J. Proc. Asiat. Soc. Bengal 2: 324. 1906.

Annuals 3-20 cm tall. Stems prostrate to ascending, angular, much branched from base; branches slender, glabrous. Leaves sessile, obovate, 0.5-2 cm × 3-7 mm, base obtuse, apex obtuse to rounded, midvein distinct. Cymes terminal and axillary, few to many flowered. Flowers 5merous. Pedicel spreading to erect, to 3.5 cm, slender, unequal, glabrous. Calyx tube 2-3 mm; lobes ovate-oblong to narrowly ovate, 3-7 mm, unequal, overlapping at base, apex obtuse, veins 1-3. Corolla blue, 1-1.5 cm in diam., tube 2-3 mm; lobes ovate, 6-12 mm, apex acuminate. Nectaries lamellate, margin dentate. Filaments 3-7 mm; anthers blue, ellipsoid, 2-2.5 mm. Ovary ovoid-ellipsoid, 4-9 mm, apex acuminate. Stigma lobes decurrent to apical part of ovary. Capsules ovoid-ellipsoid, 1.2-1.4 cm. Seeds light brown, subglobose, 0.5-0.7 mm in diam. Fl. and fr. Aug-Oct.

Beside streams, scrub, forests, alpine meadows; 2800-4700 m. SW Gansu, Qinghai, W Sichuan, NE Xizang [Nepal].