Mertensia tarbagataica B. Fedtsch.

Herbs perennial, 10-15 cm tall, glaucous. Rhizomes thin, creeping. Stems several, with brown scales basally, glabrous, carnose. Basal leaves crowded, oblong-spatulate, base tapering to petiole. Upper 3-5 leaves cordate-ovate, 1-3 cm, glabrous, glaucous, fleshy, base somewhat clasping, apex obtuse. Inflorescences terminal, ebracteate, small, to 10-flowered, of which 2-5 are fertile. Pedicel short, 1-3 mm, fleshy. Calyx glaucous, parted to middle; lobes triangular to lanceolate, 4-5 mm. Corolla dark blue, 1.2-1.6 cm, tubular; throat appendages arclike; limb 1/3-1/2 as long as tube, indistinct; lobes oblong, ca. 2 mm. Filaments filiform, 1.5-2 mm, attached slightly below appendages, ca. as long as anthers. Styles long exserted. Nutlets ovoid-oblong, to 5 mm, abaxially rounded, apex acute. Fl. Jul, fr. Jul-Aug.

NW Xinjiang (Karamay Xian, Tarbagatai Shan) [Kazakhstan].

On crumbling slopes in subalpine and alpine zones; 2500-2800 m.