刺冠菊 ci guan ju

Herbs, annual, 10-15 cm tall; taproot ± woody. Stems erect or ascending, ramified; branches slender, glabrous. Leaves cauline, sessile, blade linear-oblanceolate, 5-25 × 0.5-1.5 mm, gradually reduced distally, surfaces glabrous, base cuneate, margin entire, apex obtuse to acute, tip knobby. Capitula terminal, solitary. Involucre hemispheric, 1-1.5 mm; phyllaries 3-seriate, subequal, linear-lanceolate, 1-1.5 mm, surfaces glabrous, eglan-

dular, midvein prominent, translucent, margin sparsely ciliate. Ray florets 20-38, 1-seriate, lamina white, 0.9-1.5 × 0.3-0.4 mm, glabrous, eglandular; disk florets yellow, 1.3-1.4 mm, limb 0.8-0.9 mm, lobes erect, triangular, 0.3-0.5 mm, glabrous, eglandular. Achenes (ray) obovoid, ± trigonous, 0.8-1 mm, distally strigillose, ribs 3, 2 marginal slightly winged. Pappus of caducous, spiniform, barbellate bristles. Fl. and fr. Sep-Nov.

● Dry sandy and grassy areas by sea beaches; near sea level. Hainan.