Pedicularis gracilicaulis H. L. Li

Herbs annual, 20--40 cm tall. Stems several, often ascending, usually branched basally and at middle, sparsely pubescent or glabrescent. Leaves alternate; petiole to 3.5 cm, slender; leaf blade oblong, ca. 3 X 1 cm, villous on both surfaces, pinnatipartite; segments 5 or 6 pairs, ovate or ovate-oblong, pinnatifid or dentate. Inflorescences subcapitate, dense with few flowers; bracts leaflike. Calyx oblong-ovate, 5--6.5 mm, pubescent, 1/2 cleft anteriorly; lobes 5, unequal, flabellate, 3-cleft. Corolla purple, 1.7--1.8 cm; tube ca. 1.5 cm; galea falcate near middle, inconspicuously crested; beak ca. 5 mm, slightly 2-cleft at apex; lobes of lower lip not ciliate, middle lobe slightly smaller than lateral pair and slightly projecting, obovate, emarginate. Filaments villous apically. Capsule compressed, ovoid, ca. 1.2 cm, apiculate. Fl. Jul--Aug, fr. Aug--Sep.

NW Yunnan.

* Alpine meadows; 3000--3300 m.