Cancrinia in Flora of China @ efloras.org

157. Cancrinia Karelin & Kirilov, Bull. Soc. Imp. Naturalistes Moscou. 15: 124. 1842.

小甘菊属 xiao gan ju shu

Authors: Zhu Shi, Christopher J. Humphries & Michael G. Gilbert

Poljakovia Grubov & Filatova.

Subshrubs or perennial herbs, compact, tomentose. Leaves alternate to rosulate, dense or lax. Capitula terminal, solitary or several and corymbose, homogamous, discoid. Involucres hemispheric or cup-shaped; phyllaries herbaceous, in 3 or 4 rows, margin brown, dark brown, or hyaline scarious. Receptacle convex or flat, epaleate. Florets all bisexual, yellow, tubular, fertile, 5-lobed, with a narrow tube and a distinct limb. Anther obtuse at base, with apical ovate-lanceolate appendage. Style branches linear. Achenes trigonously terete, faintly 5- or 6-ribbed, glabrous or sparsely pilose. Corona of 5-12 pappuslike lanceolate scales ca. as long as or slightly longer than corolla.

About 30 species: C Asia, China, Mongolia, Russia; five species in China.

1 Subshrubs (30-)40-50 cm tall. 1 C. maximowiczii

+ Compact ± scapose herbs 5-20 cm tall (2)

2 (1) Phyllaries with scarious margins colorless; pappus of 5 scales; plants growing at 500-2000 m (3)

+ Phyllaries with scarious margins brown; pappus of 8-12 scales; plants growing above 3000 m (4)

3 (2) Plants annual or biennial, easily pulled out of ground; achenes glabrous; pappus with all scales acute; receptacle conspicuously conical-globose. 2 C. discoidea

+ Plants perennial, often forming mats; achenes sparsely pilose; pappus with 3 scales aristate mucronate; receptacle flat or slightly convex. 3 C. lasiocarpa

4 (2) Scarious phyllary margins broad, dark brown, enlarged at apex; achenes glabrous or pilose only toward apex. 4 C. chrysocephala

+ Scarious phyllary margins narrow, pale brown, not enlarged at apex; achenes uniformly sparsely pilose. 5 C. tianschanica

Lower Taxa