kingdom Plantae - plants »  divisio Magnoliophyta - flowering plants »  class Rosopsida - eudicots » order Malpighiales »  family Violaceae »  tribus Violeae > genus Viola > Viola sect. Viola L. > Viola subsect. Viola L.

Viola bulbosa Maxim.

| Bio Lib |e Flora of China|

Synon.: Viola bulbosa var. franchetii H. Boissieu; V. bulbosa subsp. tuberifera (Franchet) W. Becker; V. filifera Komarov; V. hookeri Franchet (1886), not Thomson & W. Becker (1916); V. multistolonifera C. J. Wang; V. tuberifera Franchet; V. tuberifera var. brevipedicellata S. Y. Chen; V. tuberifera var.pseudopalustris H. Léveillé. 

Common names:  鳞茎堇菜 lin jing jin cai 

Description: Herbs perennial, dwarf, shortly caulescent, 2.5-4.5 cm tall. Rhizome erect, long, slender, with numerous underground stolons and a small bulb in lower part; bulb 5-6 mm in diam., consisting of 4-6, white, fleshy boat-shaped scales, with numerous fibrous roots in lower part. Leaves clustered at apex of stem; stipules 1-1.4 cm, only 1/3 adnate to petioles, free part linear-lanceolate, ciliate or glabrous, apex acute; petiole narrowly winged, usually shorter than or subequaling blade, puberulous; leaf blade oblong-ovate, suborbicular or reniform, 1-2.5 cm × 5-14 mm, glabrous, or white puberulous abaxially particularly on young leaves, base cuneate or narrowly cordate, margin serrate or crenate, apex rounded or sometimes acute. Flowers white, small; pedicels produced from leaf axils of stem, usually slightly exceeding or subequaling leaves, 2-bracteolate above middle; bracteoles linear. Sepals ovate or oblong, 3-4 × 1.2-1.5 mm, apex acute, basal auricles orbicular, short, glabrous or ciliate. Petals obovate, lateral ones 8-10 mm, glabrous or bearded, anterior one 7-8 mm, purple-violet striate, apex emarginate; spur saccate, short, 1.2-1.7 mm, stout, ca. 2 mm in diam., apex obtuse; anthers ca. 2.5 mm (appendage of connectives included); spur of 2 anterior stamens short, stout, apex obtuse and slightly curved. Ovary glabrous; styles slightly geniculate at base, slightly thickened upward; stigmas triangular, slightly thickened and narrowly margined on lateral sides and abaxially, apex conspicuously beaked, beak short, nearly erect, stigma hole nearly as large as beak. Capsule ovoid. Fl. May-Jun, fr. Jun-Sep. 2n = 24 

Distributional Range: Native Asia-Temperate CHINA: China [Gansu Sheng, Shaanxi Sheng (From V. tuberifera Franch.), Sichuan Sheng, Qinghai Sheng, Yunnan Sheng (From V. tuberifera Franch.), Xizang Zizhiqu] Asia-Tropical INDIAN SUBCONTINENT: Bhutan, India, [Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh] Nepal

Habitat: Mountain valleys, grasslands on mountain slopes, forest margins, thickets, fields; 1900-4200 m.  

References: 

1. Chinese Academy of Sciences. 1959-. Flora reipublicae popularis sinicae.

2. Grierson, A. J. C. & D. J. Long. 1984-. Flora of Bhutan including a record of plants from Sikkim.

3. Hara, H. et al. 1978-1982. An enumeration of the flowering plants of Nepal.