盐蒿 yan hao

Artemisia intramongolica H. C. Fu; A. intramongolica var. microphylla H. C. Fu; Oligosporus halodendron (Turczaninow ex Besser) Poljakov.

Shrubs, 50-80 tall, with many long branches and branchlets, glabrescent, purple. Leaves puberulent or glabrescent. Lower and middle stem leaves: petiole 1-4 cm; leaf blade broadly ovate or suborbicular, 1- or 2-pinnatisect; segments (2 or)3 or 4 pairs, basal lobes longer than others; lobules 1 or 2 pairs, linear, 10-15(-20) × 0.5-1 mm, apex mucronulate. Uppermost leaves and leaflike bracts 3-5-sect or entire. Synflorescence a broad, much-branched panicle. Capitula many, shortly pedunculate or ± sessile, erect. Involucre ovoid, (2.5-)3-4 mm in diam. Marginal female florets 4-8. Disk florets 8-15, male. Achenes ovoid-oblong or obovoid-ellipsoid. Fl. and fr. Jul-Oct.

Dunes of desert areas, desert steppes, steppes, forest steppes, rocky slopes. N Gansu, N Hebei, W Heilongjiang, W Jilin, W Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, N Shaanxi, N Shanxi, E Xinjiang [Mongolia, Russia].

Artemisia halodendron is used for windbreaks and sand stabilization.