FASTIGIATA (Hooker f. & Thomson) S.H.Fu, 1965

Synonyms :

Sedum fastigiatum  Hooker f. & Thomson (1858) / Sedum quadrifidum var. fastigiatum  (Hooker f. & Thomson) Fröderström (1930) / Chamaerhodiola fastigiata  (Hooker f. & Thomson) Nakai (1934)

Type : Hooker s.n., Sikkim.

Subgenus Rhodiola, sect. Chamaerhodiola

Etymology : with clustered branches.

Distribution : Himalaya (Kashmir, India, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan), Tibet, south-western China (Sichuan, Yunnan); rocky slopes, 3500 - 5400 m.

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

Dioecious, 6 - 13 cm tall. 

Rhizomes elongate, almost cylindrical, 2 - 3 cm in diameter, sparsely branched.

Flowering stems 8 - 20, fastigiate, usually green, rarely reddish, 0.8 - 2 mm in diameter, remains of old stems dark red or straw-coloured.

Leaves densely arranged throughout, spreading, sessile, linear-Ianceolate or linear-oblanceolate or lanceolate, 8 - 12 x 1.2 – 1.5 mm, glabrous, tip round, base attenuate, margin nearly entire.

Inflorescences 6- to 17-flowered, 1 - 1.5 cm (male) or 1.5 - 2.5 cm (female) in diameter, pedicels 1 - 4 mm, often papillate.

FIowers mostly 5-merous (occasionally 4-merous), 4 - 8 mm in diameter; calyx 2.8 - 4 mm, glabrous, sepals narrowly triangular-ovate or linear-lanceolate, 2.3 - 3.5 mm, petals narrowly elliptic, linear-lanceolate or narrowly oblong, 3.5 - 6 mm, creamy-white or yellow, often reddish outside, ascending (male) or suberect (female), stamens slightly longer than the petals, anthers red.

Flowering time : Late June to August.