Circaeaster agrestis Maxim., Bull. Acad. Imp. Sci. Saint-Pétersbourg III, 27: 557 1881. ;
 

Image by D.S. Rawat


Herbs 3-10 cm tall. Cotyledons linear to lanceolate, 4-11 mm long, 0.6-2 mm wide, glabrous. Leaves petiolate; leaf blade rhombic, obovate, spatulate, or cuneiform, 3.5-23 mm long, 1-11 mm wide, glabrous, abaxially pinkish green, base cuneate, margin minutely toothed, apex mucronate; vein dichotomies mostly open, sometimes with few anastomoses. Bracts subtending each flower fascicle except terminal one. Flowers shortly pedicellate. Sepals narrowly ovate, ca. 0.5 mm long, membranous, glabrous. Stamens 0.6-1 mm, glabrous; filaments linear; anthers ellipsoid, ca. 0.1 mm. Carpels slightly longer than stamens, glabrous. Ovary oblong; stigma subellipsoid. Achenes narrowly oblong to nearly fusiform, 2.5-3.8 mm long, with dense or sparse, hooked hairs, occasionally glabrous.

Flowering from April to July; fruiting from August to September.
Circaeaster agrestis is occurring in S Gansu, E and S Qinghai, S Shaanxi, W Sichuan, NW Xinjiang, E and S Xizang, NW Yunnan of China, Bhutan, NE India, Nepal, Sikkim.
The flower organs of Circaeaster are spiral in origin. The primordia of the tepals, stamens and carpels are almost the same in shape and size in early development. Carpel conduplication takes place only in the middle part of the carpel. The basal part of the carpel differentiates into a short stalk and the upper part into the style and the stigma. Flower development is similar to that of Kingdonia (Tian et al., 2005).
Growing in forests or wet grasslands, usually under shade of trees, shrubs, or rock ledges; 2100-5000 m.
 Rights holder(s): Wen, Jun (From Plants of Tibet)


 

Circaeaster agrestis Maxim. (Circaeasteraceae) photographed inside forest near Lata Kopri, Upper Nandakini Valley (Chamoli) in Uttarakhand.
A tiny annual herb found often in rock shades. 3100m altitude. 


It is new family, genus and species for eFI.


those tiny white bristles like things in between the leaves are ??? flowers or seed pods, I wonder 


The bristly things which you have pointed out in the picture are mature carpels, or in other words, one seeded fruits.


 

  
 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *