Cardamine pulchella (Hook. fil. & Thomson) Al-Shehbaz & G. Yang

Herbs perennial, (5-)8-15(-20) cm tall, hirsute or glabrescent. Rhizomes to 1 cm, with stolons and numerous bulbils; bulbils whitish, fleshy scales ovoid or subglobose, with rudimentary apical appendages. Stems simple, erect; underground proximal part slender, glabrous; aboveground part green or purplish, slender or stout, pilose or glabrous; bulbils of leaf axils ovoid, to 3 × 2 mm. Rhizomal leaves 1(or 2), (1.5-)3-7 cm; petiole (1-)2.2-6 cm; terminal leaflet broadly ovate or oblong, 3-10 × 2-4(-7) mm, with a petiolule to 3 mm; lateral leaflets 1(or 2) pairs, similar to terminal one. Cauline leaves 1-3, 1.2-5 cm; petiole 0.5-3.5 cm, base not auriculate; terminal leaflet oblong or narrowly elliptic, (4-)6-12(-15) × (1-)1.5-4(-6) mm, ciliate or glabrous, base cuneate, margin entire, apex mucronate; lateral leaflets 1(or 2) pairs, similar to terminal one. Racemes 2-4(or 5)-flowered. Fruiting pedicels ascending, 5-13 mm, straight. Sepals ovate, 1.5-3 × 1-1.5 mm, margin membranous. Petals deep purple or mauve, broadly obovate, 5-8 × 2-4 mm, apex rounded. Median filament pairs 2-3 × 0.7-1.1 mm, flattened, extended apically into a tooth; lateral pair slender, 1-2 mm; anthers oblong, 0.5-0.6 mm. Ovules 12-16 per ovary. Fruit linear, 1-1.7 cm × 1-1.2 mm; valves smooth, glabrous; style 0.5-1 mm. Seeds brown, broadly oblong, 1.3-1.6 × 0.8-1.1 mm, wingless. Fl. May-Aug, fr. Jul-Sep.

Nepal, China, India, Sikkim, Bhutan

Qinghai, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan [Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sikkim].

3400 - 4600 m.

Grassy marshlands, moist rocky places, stony streamsides, scree, mountain slopes; 3400-4600 m.

Loxostemon pulchellus J. D. Hooker & Thomson, J. Proc. Linn. Soc., Bot. 5: 147. 1861.