假酢浆草 jia cu jiang cao

Herbs, perennial, 4-7 cm tall, glabrous; stems and petioles of radical leaves attenuate to filiform base. Storage roots 1 (young plants?) to few, 0.5-1.5 cm, distally rapidly tapering to thin apex. Bulb (resting bud) prominent, 5-8 × 5-10 mm, of several pale fleshy ovate scales. Stems 1-3, erect, thin, simple, without leaf. Radical leaves almost equaling stem; petiole 3-7 cm; blade orbicular, 0.5-1.2 × 0.5-1.5 cm, ternate to biternate; leaflets sessile, crowded, obovate. Raceme umbellate, ca. 1 cm, densely 2-4-flowered; bracts 7-10 mm, lower (outer) bracts deeply 3-6-divided, inner ones broadly obovate with a few apical teeth. Pedicel erect, 3-5 mm. Flowers blue, ± concealed by bracts. Sepals minute. Upper petal navicular, 9-10 mm, acute, often narrowly crested; spur downcurved, saccate, 2-3 mm; nectary ca. 1/2 as long as spur; lower petal oblanceolate, ca. 7 mm, acute, usually narrowly and shortly crested; inner petals 6-7 mm. Stigma with 4 apical marginal papillae; geminate papillae only lateral, basal lobes not developed. Fruit unknown; style ca. 1.5 mm. Fl. Jun-Aug.

Alpine grassy hillsides; 4200-4600 m. S Xizang (Me La on border with NE Bhutan) [Bhutan].