神农架紫堇 shen nong jia zi jin

Corydalis aspleniifolia Lidén & Z. Y. Su.

Herbs, perennial, 20-40 cm tall, glabrous or with 1-celled hairs in inflorescence. Rhizome short, 3-4 mm in diam., sometimes ?with slender stolons; leaf rosette present, lax. Stems ascending, leafy and branched throughout. Rosette leaves with slender petiole 9-15 cm, base broadly and shortly vaginate or slightly swollen; blade triangular, 3-5 cm, biternate. Cauline leaves 4-8; petiole 2-9 cm, shortly and narrowly vaginate, often with small free acute "stipules"; blade 5-10 × 5-10 cm, biternate to bipinnate; ultimate leaflets 1-5 × 1-3 cm, shortly petiolate, terminal ones larger, lateral ones smaller, large den-tate or (lower cauline leaves and rosette leaves) ± deeply cut into oblong lobes; uppermost leaves smaller and less divided. Racemes lax, 3-9-flowered; lower bract large, ternate with broad dentate lobes, middle and upper ones smaller, ovate, cut into a few long sharp teeth. Pedicel 4-6 mm, at fruiting to 10 mm, slightly and inconsistently arcuate. Sepals 0.5-1 mm, deeply dentate. Corolla red, amaranth, or white; outer petals retuse to shallowly emarginate at apex, without crest; upper petal (15-)20(-25) mm; spur 9-12 mm, nectary very short, ca. 2 mm; inner petals 9-11 mm, claw slightly longer than limb. Stigma rounded, with 10 simple papillae, and prominent lateral and basal geminate papillae. Capsule linear, 20-30 × 1-1.5 mm, 10-20-seeded; style ca. 5 mm. Seeds ca. 1.5 mm, keeled, margin with radial striae, with large flabellate caruncle. Fl. Mar-May.

● Valleys, streamsides; 700-1600 m. Chongqing (Chengkou), Gansu, W Hubei (Badong, Fangxian, Xingshan), S Shanxi (Wenxian), N Sichuan (Beichuan, Xuanhan).

This plant is variable with regards to leaf division and flower size. Corydalis aspleniifolia was based on a plant with much divided leaves with oblong lobes decurrent on the midvein, dense racemes, short pedicels, and large flowers, but there is a continuous variation.