Pedicularis tapaoensis Tsoong

Herbs perennial, to 6 cm tall, not drying black. Rootstock short. Stems cespitose, less than 1 cm or barely stemless. Leaves many, densely tufted; petiole 0.8--2.2 cm, broadly winged, glabrous; leaf blade elliptic-ovate to oblong, ca. 1 cm X 4.5--7 mm, glabrous on both surfaces, pinnatisect; segments 4--6 pairs, ovate, pinnatifid or coarsely dentate. Flowers solitary in leaf axils. Pedicel to 1 cm. Calyx ca. 7--9 mm, subglabrous, ciliate, tube ca. 5 mm, more than 1/3 cleft anteriorly; lobes 5, unequal, serrate. Corolla purple-red; tube ca. 2.5 cm, sparsely pubescent; galea ± bent at a right angle, with 2-auriculate protuberances; beak straight or bent slightly downward, ca. 4 mm. Filaments pubescent. Fl. Jul--Aug, fr. Aug--Sep.

W Sichuan.

* Open alpine meadows; ca. 4700 m.