Dracocephalum taliense Forrest ex W. W. Sm.

Related to Dracocephalum tanguticum but verticillasters few flowered in upper leaf axils.

Rhizomes with thick cylindric roots. Stems few, erect, ca. 20 cm, sparsely pubescent basally, densely retrorse pubescent at apex. Leaves pinnatisect, palmatisect toward stem apex, sessile or subsessile; leaf blade ovate, 0.9-2.6 × 1-2 cm, base broadly cuneate, adaxially glabrous, abaxially dense strigose along veins; segments pairs 3 or 4, opposite or subopposite, 2-6 mm from each other along midrib, obliquely spreading at an obtuse angle, linear, 0.7-1.7 cm × 0.8-1.6 mm, margin entire, revolute when dry, apex obtuse. Verticillasters 2-4-flowered, on 5 or 6 upper nodes; bracts similar to cauline leaves but smaller, ca. 4 mm, with a pair of lobes at middle, pubescent. Calyx 1.4-1.6 cm, densely pubescent, ciliate, 2-lipped to 1/3 its length; teeth equal, narrowly triangular, apex subulate-acuminate; upper lip 3-toothed, with divisions to 4/5 its length. Corolla blue, 2.6-2.8 cm, densely pubescent. Fl. Aug-Sep.

Yunnan (Dali Xian, Heqing Xian)

* Grassy hillsides; ca. 2800 m.