矮黄堇 ai huang jin

Herbs, perennial, 2-5 cm tall, with taproot, forming small spreading cushions by means of creeping stems rooting at nodes. Stems branched near base, with leaves. Basal leaves many, 2.5-5 cm, long petiolate; petiole flat, base ca. 2 mm in diam., upwardly attenuate; blade oblong-deltoid, ca. 10 × 8 mm, bipinnate to nearly tripinnate; ultimate segments linear to narrowly lanceolate, 2-3 × ca. 0.5 mm, apex acuminate; cauline leaves like basal leaves, smaller. Racemes corymbose, 4-10-flowered; bracts 5-8 mm with stalk 2-3 mm and blade digitately cut into 4-8 narrow mucronate lobes (lowermost bracts sometimes larger and more divided). Pedicel 5-10 mm, erect, apex hooked in fruit. Flowers yellowish green, keels of outer petals darker purplish green. Sepals semicircular, ca. 1 mm, shallowly dentate. Upper petal 9-10 mm, not or very narrowly crested; spur slightly downcurved at apex, cylindric, ca. 4 mm; nectary ca. 2/3 as long as spur; lower petal not crested, ca. 7 mm, limb narrow, finely dentate; claw broad and flat, ca. 4 mm; inner petals ca. 6 mm, limb equaling claw. Stigma square, bifid, with 6 or 7 short papillae, including 1 basal geminate papilla. Capsule obovoid, ca. 5 × 3 mm, reflexed, buried in bracts. Seed margin with small protracted dots; caruncle cap-form.

● Alpine meadows, among shrubs; ca. 4900 m. SE Xizang (Lhünzê, Nyingchi).