思茅梅花草 si mao mei hua cao

Stem 1, 8-22 cm, with 1 leaf proximally. Basal leaves 5-12; petiole 1-3 cm; leaf blade abaxially green, adaxially gray-green, conspicuously punctate on both surfaces, ovate-cordate, 0.7-2 × 0.6-1.9 cm, (5-)7-veined basally, base deeply cordate, apex acute. Cauline leaf sessile, amplexicaul, similar to basal ones but smaller, base often with several rusty brown appendages. Flower 1.8-2.2 cm in diam.; hypanthium shortly turbinate. Sepals reflexed and persistent after anthesis, pale green, brown punctate, ovate, 3-5 × 2-3 cm, 1-3-veined, margin fimbriate proximally, apex rounded. Petals white, brownish punctate, obovate or narrowly so, 6-12 × 3-6 mm, base attenuate into a claw ca. 1 mm, margin long fimbriate proximally, sparsely fimbriate to undulate distally, apex rounded. Anthers ellipsoid; 2-2.5 mm; staminodes 3.5-4 mm, divided for ca. 1/2 their length into 5 filiform rays, apex with globose glands. Ovary slightly sunken into hypanthium, ovoid, 3-4 mm; style 2-2.5 mm; stigma 3-lobed, lobes oblong. Capsule depressed trigonous when young. Fl. Sep-Nov, fr. Oct-Nov.

* Bogs; ca. 1400 m. S Yunnan (Simao Xian).

The present authors have seen no specimens of Parnassia simaoensis; the above description is based on the protologue, in which it was compared with P. gansuensis, which differs in having staminodes divided almost to the base.

WU Ding, GAO Lian-MIng, WANG Hong & LI De-zhu (Acta Bot. Yunnan. 26: 628-630. 2004) treat this as a synonym of Parnassia wightiana Wallich ex Wight & Arnott.