木里蓟 mu li ji

Herbs 25-100 cm tall, perennial. Stems grayish white, erect, unbranched, ribbed, unwinged, long villous; synflorescence axes densely felted. Leaves discolorous, surface smooth, abaxially grayish white and densely felted, adaxially green and glabrous. Cauline leaves sessile, elliptic, 6-7 × 1.5-2 cm, pinnatifid, auriculate amplexicaul; segments 3 or 4 pairs, broadly triangular to semiorbicular, fringed with 1-2 mm spinules and with 3-5 unequal triangular teeth ending in a 4-6 mm spine. Upper cauline leaves usually undivided, margin spiny or with spine-tipped teeth, spines to 1.4 cm. Capitula few, racemose, erect. Involucre campanulate, ca. 5 cm in diam., villous. Phyllaries in ca. 6 rows, lacking wings and scarious appendage, abaxially villous with dense long multicellular hairs; outer phyllaries 15-16 × 1-2 mm, basal portion triangular, apical portion subulate, 0.9-1.1 cm, and spine-tipped; middle phyllaries 1.6-1.9 × 0.2-0.3 cm, basal portion lanceolate, apical portion subulate and 4-11 mm; inner phyllaries linear, ca. 17 × 1 mm, apex acuminate and scarious. Florets bisexual. Corolla red, ca. 1.4 cm, tube ca. 6 mm. Mature achene unknown. Pappus bristles white, ca. 1.2 cm. Fl. Nov.

● Dry mountain slopes; ca. 3200 m. SW Sichuan (Muli).