翠菊 cui ju

Aster chinensis Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 877. 1753; Callistemma chinense (Linnaeus) Skeels; C. hortense Cassini; Diplopappus chinensis (Linnaeus) Lessing.

Herbs, 20-100 cm tall. Stems erect, single, simple or sparingly branched, branches ascending, sometimes reddish, sparsely to moderately villous, sometimes sparsely to moderately minutely stipitate glandular. Leaves: lower withered by anthesis or persistent, gradually reduced distally; lower petiolate (to 1.2 cm), blade spatulate, ca. 0.9 cm; mid narrowly winged petiolate (2-4 cm, margin villosulous), blade ovate to lanceolate or oblanceolate, 2.5-6.5 × 2-4 cm, strigillose, abaxially sparsely pilosulose, midvein sparsely villosulous, adaxially glabrous, eglandular, base cuneate or attenuate-rounded, margin irregularly, coarsely serrate, teeth mucronulate, sometimes entire (distalmost), apex acuminate, mucronulate. Involucre 10-15+ mm; phyllaries subequal, oblanceolate, apex obtuse, outer series 10-30 × 2-6 mm, glabrous, midvein ciliate proximally, margin white ciliate, apex mucronulate, inner series 10-30 × 2-6 mm, glabrous, eglandular, scarious, multiveined, veins translucent, proximally prominent, margin hyaline, erose, purple-tinged, apex erose. Ray florets 16-40+, lamina red, pink, blue, purple, violet, lilac, or white, 15-35 × 2-8 mm, tube sparsely strigillose, sparsely, minutely stipitate glandular apically; disk florets yellow, 4.5-5 mm, tube and limb base sparsely strigillose, limb 3.6-4 mm, lobes spreading, narrowly triangular, 1.2-1.3 mm, sparsely minutely stipitate glandular. Achenes mottled purple, grayish with age, 3-3.5 mm. Pappus: outer scales, reddish, ca. 0.1 mm, inner bristles white, ca. 4 mm, acute, innermost bristles 4.5-4.8 mm, weakly clavate. Fl. and fr. May-Oct.

Grasslands on slopes, stream banks, shady places or open forests, roadsides; 300-2700 m. Gansu, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Jiangsu, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Xinjiang, Yunnan [Japan, Korea].

An ornamental plant, this species is widely cultivated worldwide.