长柱垂头菊 chang zhu chui tou ju

Cremanthodium gracillimum W. W. Smith; C. palmatum Bentham var. rhodocephalum (Diels) R. D. Good; C. sherriffii H. R. Fletcher.

Stem solitary, erect, 8-33 cm tall, densely purplish red pilose. Stem leaves crowded in middle to proximal part of stem, petiolate; petiole 2-12 cm, pilose, semiamplexicaul; leaf blade abaxially purplish red, adaxially green, reniform, 0.7-4 × 1-6 cm, abaxially sparsely white pilose, adaxially glabrous, palmately veined, with prominent veins on both surfaces, margin regularly crenate, tips of teeth mucronate. Middle to distal stem leaves shortly petiolate, without sheath; leaf blade orbicular-reniform to linear, margin dentate or entire. Capitula solitary or few, on apex of stem or branches, nodding. Involucre hemispheric, 1-1.5 × 1.5-3 cm, outside long purplish red pilose; phyllaries 10-16, in 2 rows, oblong-lanceolate, 3-5 mm wide, apex acute or acuminate; inner phyllaries broadly white membranous at margin. Ray florets purplish red; lamina oblanceolate, 1.5-2 cm × 5-8 mm, apex rounded or truncate, 2- or 3-lobed; tube ca. 5 mm; styles purplish red, to 3 cm. Tubular florets numerous, purplish red, 1-1.2 cm; tube ca. 1.5 mm; limb cylindric; styles purplish red, 2-2.5 cm. Achenes oblong, ca. 5 mm. Pappus white, slightly shorter than tubular corolla. Fl. and fr. Jun-Sep.

● Alpine meadows, grassy slopes, forest margins, gravelly areas on mountains; 3000-5000 m. SW Sichuan, SE Xizang, NW Yunnan.