矮蓼 ai liao

Persicaria humilis (Meisner) H. Hara.

Herbs annual. Stems decumbent, 5-15 cm tall, slender, branched, sparsely long glandular hairy. Petiole 2-3 mm, winged; leaf blade ovate, 5-12 × 3-6 mm, both surfaces sparsely long glandular hairy, base cuneate, decurrent along petiole forming narrow wing, margin long ciliate and sparsely glandular hairy; ocrea tubular, membranous, oblique, sparsely long glandular hairy, not ciliate. Inflorescence terminal, capitate, small, 3-5 mm in diam.; peduncle long, slender, sparsely long glandular hairy; bracts broadly lanceolate, 2.5-3 mm, glabrous, margin membranous, not ciliate, apex acute, each 1-flowered. Perianth pinkish, 5-parted; tepals elliptic, ca. 1 mm, apex acute. Stamens 5 or 6. Styles 2, connate to below middle; stigmas capitate. Achenes black, opaque, nearly orbicular, biconvex, ca. 1 mm in diam., densely pitted. Fl. Aug-Sep, fr. Sep-Oct.

Grassy slopes, shaded places in valleys; 2400-2800 m. Yunnan [Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sikkim].