华蟹甲属 hua xie jia shu

Authors: Yilin Chen, Bertil Nordenstam & Charles Jeffrey

Herbs, perennial, erect, with thick subterranean tuberiform rhizomes and numerous fibrous roots. Leaves simple, petiole not winged, basal and lower stem leaves usually fallen by anthesis; blade ovate to suborbicular, palmately or pinnately veined, base cordate to subtruncate, sometimes expanded and subamplexicaul, but not vaginate. Capitula solitary or few to numerous, arranged in terminal lax corymb or compound paniculoid thyrses, radiate; peduncles bracteolate. Involucres not calyculate, narrowly cylindric to obconic-campanulate, with minutely puberulent tips and scarious margins. Ray florets 2-8; lamina yellow, oblong or linear-oblong, 4-7-veined, with 2 or 3 small terminal teeth. Disk florets 2 to many; corolla yellow; limb funnelform; lobes 5, anthers shortly acutely to obtusely caudate, tails 1/4-3/4 as long as antheropodium; antheropodia broadly obconic to somewhat balusterform, broader than filament at base; endothecial cell wall thickenings strictly polar. Style branches incurved, obtuse with numerous rather long, prominent, obtuse terminal papillae. Achenes cylindric, ribbed, glabrous. Pappus persistent, capillary-like.

● Four species: China.

Ligularia and Parasenecio are the closest relatives to Sinacalia. Sinacalia differs from the former by its non-vaginate leaf sheaths, from the latter by its radiate capitula, and from both by its tuberiform rhizomes.

Lower Taxa

• Sinacalia caroli (C. Winkler) C. Jeffrey & Y. L. Chen
• Sinacalia davidii (Franchet) H. Koyama
• Sinacalia macrocephala (H. Robinson & Brettell) C. Jeffrey & Y. L. Chen
• Sinacalia tangutica (Maximowicz) B. Nordenstam