According to the Northwest Plateau Biology Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences on November 12, during their annual survey of plant biodiversity and Tibetan medicinal materials, large areas of Delphinium albocoeruleum has been found for the first time in the alpine desert area in Gter Len Kha City, Haixi Mongolian and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China’s Qinghai Province, which is very significant to the study of this species’ evolution, the development of Tibetan medicine industry, and the ecosystem in high-altitude and low temperature desert areas.

Zhou Yubi, an Assistant Researcher at the Northwest Plateau Biology Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Science and the Associate Director of Key Laboratory for the Specific Biology Resource of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, explained that Delphinium albocoeruleum is resistant to the cold. They grow in environment with damp meadows and prefer a cold and moist climate instead of hot weather. The plant is often seen growing in isolated patches on highland meadows or forests with an altitude from 3,600 to 4,700 meters, and there was some scattered growth in Qinghai Province, but this is the first discovery of such large areas of them in alpine desert areas.

According to the record, Delphinium albocoeruleum grows in northwest Sichuan Province, northeast Tibet Autonomous Region, eastern Qinghai Province, and Gansu Province. The plant can be used as medicine for treating the enteritis.

Zhou Yubi said the Delphinium albocoeruleum found in Gter Len Kha City grows in a belt pattern on areas of about 5,000 hectares at an average altitude of 4,300 meters.