短穗兔耳草 duan sui tu er cao

Kokonoria stolonifera Keng & P. C. Keng.

Herbs, 4-8 cm tall. Lateral roots numerous, fascicled, to 10 cm, fleshy; root crown with fibrous remnants of old petioles. Rhizomes less than 3 cm. Stolons purplish red, more than 30 cm, 1-2 mm in diam. Leaves basal, rosulate; petiole 1-5 cm, broadly winged, flattened; leaf blade broadly linear to lanceolate, 2-7 cm, base tapering, margin entire, apex acuminate. Scapes few, slender, prostrate to erect, not exceeding leaves; spikes dense, 1-1.5 cm; bracts ovate-lanceolate, 4-8 mm, papery. Calyx as long as or slightly shorter than corolla tube, apex of upper side split for more than 1/3 length, margin long ciliate. Corolla white, reddish, or purple, 5-6 mm; tube straight, longer than limb; lower lip lobes 2, oblong, 1-1.2 mm wide; upper lip unlobed, ovate to ovate-oblong, 1.5-2 mm wide. Stamens shorter than upper lip. Disc 4-lobed. Style exserted; stigma capitate. Fruit red, ovate. Fl. and fr. May-Aug.

* Alpine grassland, sandy grassland on riverbanks and lake shores; 3200-4500 m. Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan, Xinjiang.

The whole plant is used medicinally.