细柄黄堇 xi bing huang jin

Herbs, perennial, 8-18 cm tall, glabrous; stems and petioles of radical leaves attenuate to filiform underground base. Storage roots narrowly fusiform, gradually narrowed into a short or long thick stalk. Stems usually several, weak, simple or often branched, with 2 or 3 leaves in upper 1/2. Radical leaves: petiole 3-10 cm; blade 2-4 × 2-4 cm, once to twice subternately or pinnately cleft, leaflets decurrent on midvein; leaflets glaucous, especially abaxially, sometimes spotted with anthocyan, ± deeply divided into lanceolate acute lobes, often tipped with a small black mucro. Cauline leaves like radical leaves, shortly stalked. Racemes terminal and often axillary from uppermost leaf, corymbose, later elongating, 4-15-flowered; lower bracts divided, upper ones entire, shorter than long slender 15-25(-30) mm pedicels that become arcuately recurved in fruit. Sepals whitish, to 1 mm, deeply dentate. Corolla yellow, fragrant; veins and keels of outer petals dark purplish brown. Outer petals broadly rhombic-acute, broadly crested; upper petal 13-14 mm, crest attenuate in both directions, not quite reaching apex, decurrent to tip of spur; spur straight, ca. 7 mm, rather thin, tapering; nectary ca. 3 mm, thin; lower petal with short crest and broad rhombic undulate limb gradually narrowed to base; inner petals 6-7 mm. Ovary broadly ellipsoid; style ca. 3 mm. Fl. Jun-Sep.

● Stony slopes; 4100-5300 m. W Sichuan (Jiulong, Yajiang), E Xizang (Baxoi).