珠芽紫堇 zhu ya zi jin

Corydalis flexuosa Franchet subsp. balsamiflora (Prain) C. Y. Wu; ?C. flexuosa f. bulbillifera C. Y. Wu; ?C. gemmipara H. Chuang var. ecristata H. Chuang.

Herbs, perennial, 20-40 cm tall, glabrous. Rhizome horizontal, ± densely clad with persistent fleshy ovate petiolar bases and scales in 2 rows, when dried black-brown. Stems 1 to few, simple or branched, sometimes with detachable dwarf shoots in leaf axils late in season, with 2-4 scattered leaves. Radical leaves several; petiole 4-12 cm, sheathed; blade pruinose abaxially, green adaxially, deltoid or ovate to nearly orbicular, 3-6 × 3-6 cm, biternate; pinnae petiolulate; pinnules sessile, deeply biternatisect into oblong to oblanceolate obtuse lobes. Cauline leaves lowest long petiolate; upper shortly petiolulate to sessile; blade broadly ovate; lowest 3-5 × 3-5 cm, upward gradually smaller, biternate to bipinnate, like radical leaves. Raceme 3-4 cm, subcorymbose, 9-14-flowered; lower bract 20-30 mm, much divided into oblong lobes, progressively smaller and less divided upward; upper 8-15 mm, entire, oblanceolate. Pedicel straight, 15-30 mm in flower, 20-35 mm in fruit. Sepals ovate, 1-2 × ca. 1 mm, finely dentate. Petals pale blue to grayish blue, rarely white, inner petals whitish; outer petals without crest; upper petal 26-29 mm, broadly rhombic, apex shortly acuminate; spur broadly cylindric, 11-13 mm; nectary ca. 1/2 as long as spur; lower petal 14-18 mm with narrow claw abruptly widened into broad rounded entire limb; inner petals 13-15 mm. Stigma square, slightly emarginate; marginal simple papillae: median 2 distinct, lateral broad and confluent; geminate papillae lateral (submarginal) and on basal lobes. Capsule linear, 16-20 × 1-1.5 mm, 20-26-seeded (fruiting apparently very sparse in some predominantly vegetatively propagated populations); style ca. 4 mm. Seeds in 1 row, ca. 1 mm, smooth. Fl. and fr. Apr-Jun.

● Riversides, in seepage on permanently wet steep cliffs; 1900-2400(-2800?) m. Sichuan (Kangding, Luding, Tianquan).

A population from Erlang Shan (W Tianquan) produces late in the season reddish axillary dwarf shoots that root while still attached to the withering mother plant.