Hedinia tibetica


Hedinia is a monotypic genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Brassicaceae. It only contains one known species, Hedinia tibetica.

Description

They are annual herbaceous plants, tall, with green stems which are procumbent or ascending, they are densely hirsute with simple trichomes to 1.3 mm. The basal leaves are sparsely to densely pubescent, with a petiole measuring long. They are ciliate.
The leaf blades are ovate or narrowly oblong in outline, 1- or 2-pinnatisect, long and wide. The cauline leaves are similar to the basal leaves, are reduced in size with divisions toward stem apex. The racemes are bracteate throughout or rarely only basally. The distal bracts are subsessile, sometimes adnate to the pedicel. The fruiting pedicel is straight, erect or ascending, long. The sepals are oblong shaped, long and wide. The petals are obovate shaped, long and wide, with a claw 1.5 mm. The filaments are long. The anthers are long with 20-46 ovules per ovary. The fruit is broadly oblong, rarely oblong-linear or suborbicular in shape. They are long and 3-5 mm wide. They are flat or slightly twisted, obtuse, slightly retuse, or rarely subacute at both ends. The valves are glabrous or pubescent. The style is 0.3-0.8 mm. The seeds are light to dark brown in colour, oblong shaped, 0.8-1.1 long and 0.4-0.6 mm wide. They bloom between June and August, and fruiting between July-September.

Taxonomy

The genus name of Hedinia is in honour of Sven Hedin, a Swedish geographer, topographer, explorer, photographer, travel writer and illustrator. The Latin specific epithet of tibetica refers to Tibet, where the original plants were found.
It was first described and published in S.Hedin, Southern Tibet Vol.6 Issue 3 on page 77 in 1922.

Range and habitat

Its native range is from Central Asia to China and the Himalayas. It is found in the regions of China, East and West Himalayas, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Tadzhikistan and Tibet.
It grows in sandstone gravel, on alpine meadows, steppe, scree and sandy slopes. They can be found at an altitude of above sea level. Including on the semi-shrub deserts of the upper slopes of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, and the Tibetan Plateau.