沙苁蓉 sha cong rong

Plants 15-70 cm tall. Stems 2-4(-6)-branched or simple. Leaves ovate-triangular or ovate-lanceolate, 0.5-2 cm X 4-8 mm. Inflorescences spicate, 5-15 cm, 4-6 cm in diam.; bract ovate-lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, 1.6-2 cm X 3-7 mm, along with bractlets and calyx lobes villous at margin and abaxially; bractlets shorter than calyx. Calyx campanulate, 1.2-2.2 cm, 4-lobed; lobes linear or oblong-lanceolate, 1-1.2 cm, apex acuminate. Corolla pale yellow, becoming dark blue when dry, tubular-campanulate, 2.2-3 cm, villous at base adaxially, apex 5-lobed; lobes 6-8 X 6-12 mm, entire, glabrous abaxially. Filaments 1.4-1.6 cm, villous at base; anthers long ovoid, densely villous, base mucronate. Ovary 6-7 X ca. 3 mm. Style longer than filaments; stigma subglobose. Capsule ovoid-globose or oblong, 1-1.5 X ca. 1 cm. Seeds brown, oblong-globose, ca. 0.4 mm. Fl. May-Jun, fr. Jun-Aug.

* Grasslands, slopes; 1000-2400 m. Gansu, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, NE Xinjiang.