Draba melanopus Kom.

A very variable species; some forms may be confused with Draba steanocarpa Hook.f.& Thoms., but its aphyllous (rarely 1-leaved) scapes with smaller flowers and fruits are distinctive. Draba alticola Kom. is a dwarf form of this species with dull whitish flowers. It is primarily a perennating species but biennial or even annual forms are not lacking.

The description and illustration of Draba melanopus in Fl. Xinjiang. (2(2): 129, 131. 1995) are most likely based on misidentified plants of D. zangbeiensis.

Biennial or perennial herb, often much branched from the base; scapes (3-) 5-10 (-15) cm long in fruit, aphyllous, rarely 1-leaved, ± hairy below with simple and forked hairs, subglabrous or glabrous above. Basal leaves rosulate, oblong-elliptic, 5-10 (-15) mm long, 1.5-3 mm broad, entire, acute, hairy. Racemes 5-15-flowered, lax in fruit. Flowers c. 2.5 mm across, light yellow; pedicels 3-8 mm long in fruit, ascending or spreading, glabrous. Sepals 1-1.5 mm long. Petals (2-) 2.5 (-3) mm long, 1 mm broad, apex subemarginate. Stamens c. 1 : 1.5 mm long. Siliculae linear or oblong-elliptic, (3-) 5-7 (-10) mm long, 1-1.5 mm broad, glabrous or sparsely hairy with minute, usually simple hairs, sometimes sparsely and somewhat ciliately hairy at the margins; style minute or obscure with short, depressed stigma; septum not veined; seeds 6-12 in each locule, c. 0.5 mm long, oblong-ovate, brown.

Herbs biennial or short-lived perennial, (2-)4-18(-20) cm tall, scapose. Stems few to several from base, erect to subdecumbent, simple, sparsely pubescent proximally with simple or forked trichomes, glabrous along distal half. Basal leaves rosulate, subsessile; leaf blade oblong-obovate to subspatulate, 0.4-2 cm × 1.5-5 mm, abaxially densely subhirsute with long-stalked, forked or 3- or 4-rayed stellate trichomes with simple rays, sometimes with a few simple trichomes, adaxially with similar indumentum or with predominantly simple trichomes, base cuneate, margin entire, ciliate with simple trichomes to 1.3 mm, apex subobtuse. Cauline leaves absent, very rarely 1 at stem base. Racemes 4-16-flowered, ebracteate, elongated considerably in fruit; rachis sometimes slightly flexuous. Fruiting pedicels 3-9 mm, divaricate-ascending, slightly curved upward or straight, stout, glabrous or rarely sparsely pubescent. Sepals oblong, 0.9-1.5 × 0.6-0.8 mm, erect, abaxially sparsely pubescent with simple or stalked, forked trichomes, base of lateral pair not saccate, margin not membranous. Petals yellow drying whitish, narrowly spatulate, (1.8-)2.2-3 × 0.6-0.9 mm, apex subemarginate. Filaments 1-1.4 mm; anthers ovate, ca. 0.2 mm. Ovules 16-26 per ovary. Fruit linear to narrowly elliptic, (5-)6-11(-12) × 1-2 mm, not inflated, latiseptate, not twisted, straight or slightly curved; valves glabrous or rarely puberulent, often with an obscure midvein, base and apex acute; style 0.1-0.2 mm. Seeds brown, oblong-ovate, 0.9-1.1 × 0.4-0.5 mm. Fl. and fr. Jun-Aug.

Distribution: C. Asia, N.W. Himalaya, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Xinjiang [Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan].

Fl. Per. May July.

Shady or moist rocky areas; 2200-3700 m.