多籽车前 duo zi che qian

Herbs, annual. Taproot tenuous. Leaves basal, glabrous; petiole inconspicuous; leaf blade narrowly linear to filamentous-linear, 2-10 cm × 1-2(-3) mm, thickly papery, vein 1, base attenuate, margin entire, apex slightly obtuse. Spikes cylindric to capitate, 0.5-4 cm, elongated to 7 cm after anthesis, densely flowered or interrupted basally; peduncle 2-10 cm, sparsely white pubescent or glabrous; bracts broadly ovate to suborbicular, 1.7-2.3 mm, glabrous, keel extending to apex. Sepals 1.5-1.8 mm, glabrous, keel thin and extending to apex; lower sepals broadly elliptic; upper sepals suborbicular, keel narrow. Corolla white, glabrous; lobes ovate, ca. 1 mm, erect. Stamens adnate to near apex of corolla tube, exserted, covered with erect corolla lobes. Pyxis conic-ovoid, 3-4.5 mm, apex truncate, circumscissile near base, with 12-30 seeds. Seeds dark brown, fusiform, 1-1.5 mm; ventral face flat; cotyledons parallel to ventral side. Fl. May-Jun, fr. Jun-Jul. 2n = 24.

Steppes, saline habitats, sandy areas. N Xinjiang [E Kazakhstan, W Mongolia, S Russia].