棉苞飞蓬 mian bao fei peng

Erigeron alpinus Linnaeus var. eriocalyx Ledebour, Fl. Altaic. 4: 91. 1833.

Herbs, perennial, 5-25 cm tall, ± caespitose; caudex branched. Stems several, sometimes single, erect or ascending, green or reddish, simple, sometimes branched, hirsute-villous (at least some crosswalls purple in upper part), strigillose, more densely so upward, eglandular. Leaves green, surfaces sparsely hirsute-villous, margin entire, sparsely villous-ciliate (some crosswalls yellow); basal rosulate, withered at anthesis, long petiolate, blade oblanceolate, 1.5-9.5 × 0.2-0.8(-1.3) cm, base attenuate, apex obtuse; cauline 2-8, lower identical to basal, short-winged petiolate, mid and upper sessile, blade lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, 1-5(-7.5) × 0.2-0.8 cm, base ± subclasping, apex acute. Capitula solitary, rarely 2 or 3 in corymbiform synflorescences, 9-14 × 19-25 mm. Involucre hemispheric; phyllaries 3-seriate, apex purple, appressed, ± equaling disk florets, lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, densely hirsute-villous at base (at least some with purple crosswalls), distally sparsely villous to glabrate, eglandular, membranous, apex acuminate, outer 4.2-5.2 × 0.5-0.6 mm, inner 5-9 × 0.6-1 mm, margin narrowly scarious. Ray florets purple, violet, or lilac, rarely white, 6.6-10 mm, tube 2-2.5 mm, lamina ca. 0.5 mm wide, hairy proximally, involute when dry; disk florets yellow, 3.5-4 mm, tube 1.5 mm, limb cylindric, abruptly ampliate, tube and limb hairy, lobes lanceolate, 0.3-0.4 mm, tip pink, anthers and style branches not exserted from corolla. Achenes narrowly oblong, ± compressed, 2-2.5 × ca. 0.6 mm, strigose. Pappus whitish, 2-seriate, outer bristles 0.2-0.4 mm, inner 3.6-4.5 mm. Fl. Jul-Sep.

Alpine or subalpine meadows; 2400-2600 m. Nei Mongol, W Xinjiang [Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia (Siberia); Europe].

A specimen at A from Sichuan (Dêgê Xian, D. E. Boufford et al. 36776), determined as Erigeron porphyrolepis, keys out here but appears distinct. No other material of this entity was seen at other herbaria. It may represent an unrecognized species.