NOBILIS  (Franchet) S.H.Fu, 1965

Synonyms :

Sedum nobile  Franchet (1896) / Chamaerhodiola nobilis  (Franchet) Nakai (1934)

Sedum horridum  Praeger (1921) / Chamaerhodiola horrida  (Praeger) Nakai (1934)

Type : Delaway 3171, Yunnan,  China.

Subgenus Rhodiola, section Chamaerhodiola

Etymology : Lat. ‘nobilis’ = aristocratic > for the appearence of the plant. 

Distribution : NE Myanmar, SW China (NW Yunnan); thickets and grassy slopes, 3700 - 4500 m.

Description (by H. Ohba in IHSP, 2003) :

Dioecious, 4 - 7 cm tall.

Rhizomes cylindrical, 1.2 - 2.5 cm in diameter, unbranched.

Flowering stems densely fastigiate, 1 - 1.2 mm in diameter, purplish-brown, papillate, marcescent.

Flowering stems of the same age verticillate in umbel-like fashion, basally bent, with conspicuous leaf scars.

Leaves densely arranged throughout the stems, ascending to spreading, narrowly oblong to Iinear-oblanceolate, 6 - 10 x 1.6 - 2.5 mm, glabrous, tip acute to obtuse, base shortly attenuate, margin entire.

Inflorescences terminal, 1- to 4-flowered, 5 – 7 x 7 - 15 mm in diameter, pedicels < 1 mm, smooth. 

FIowers 4-merous, 4 - 5 mm long, calyx (male) 2.5 - 4.5 mm, sepals narrowly triangular to linear-subulate, 2 - 2.5 mm, petals (male) oblong to broadly oblong, 4 - 6 mm, white or pinkish, ascending to suberect; stamens longer than the petals, nectar scales very broadly oblong to square, 0.7 - 0.9 mm, carpels 7 - 9 mm, each with ca 6 ovules [3 - 5 mm (male)], fruits ca 12 mm, seeds linear to lunate, 2.8 - 3 mm, teminally winged, brown, longitudinally lowly striate.