苦荬菜 ku mai cai

Crepis bonii Gagnepain; Ixeris dissecta (Makino) C. Shih; I. fontinalis Candolle; I. matsumurae (Makino) Nakai; I. polycephala f. dissecta (Makino) Ohwi; I. polycephala var. dissecta (Makino) Nakai; Lactuca biauriculata Vaniot & H. Léveillé; L. matsumurae Makino; L. matsumurae var. dissecta Makino; L. polycephala (Cassini) Bentham.

Herbs 10-50 cm tall, annual. Stem solitary, erect, branched already in lower half or higher up, glabrous, leafy. Basal leaves present at anthesis, narrowly oblanceolate, lanceolate, linear-lanceolate, or linear, 6-22 × 0.3-1.5 cm, undivided or pinnatipartite to pinnatisect or runcinately so, base attenuate into a well-developed petiole-like portion and ± semiamplexicaul, margin entire or dentate, apex acute; lateral lobes (if present) 2-5 pairs, on leaf blade basal 1/2-2/3. Stem leaves lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, smaller, rather undivided, base strongly sagittately clasping, margin mostly entire, otherwise similar to basal leaves. Synflorescence corymbiform, with few to some capitula. Capitula with 20-25 florets; peduncle capillaceous. Involucre cylindric and 5-6 × 2-3 mm at anthesis, broadly campanulate and 7-8 × 4-5 mm in fruit. Phyllaries abaxially glabrous; outer phyllaries 4-6, ovate, longest less than 1 mm, apex acute; inner phyllaries 8, apex acute to obtuse. Florets yellow or rarely white. Anther tube and style greenish to blackish upon drying. Achene brown to reddish brown, ellipsoid, ca. 4 mm, apex contracted into a slender 1-1.5 mm beak. Pappus ca. 4 mm. Fl. and fr. Feb-Oct. 2n = 16.

Forest margins, thickets, grasslands, along rivers and streams, by fields, open areas; 100-2000 m. Anhui, Chongqing, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, ?Henan, ?Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Shandong, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Afghanistan, Bhutan, Cambodia, N India, Japan, Kashmir, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Vietnam].

The leaves of the species, as in other species of the genus, are very variable with respect to their division, ranging from entire to strongly dissected.

The entire plant is used medicinally. The many uses include detoxifying, stopping bleeding, promoting tissue regeneration, removing necrotic tissue, decreasing inflammation of soft tissues, and stopping uterine bleeding, but the main use is for treating furuncles.