毛脉翅果菊 mao mai chi guo ju

Lactuca alliariifolia H. Léveillé & Vaniot; L. elata Hemsley; L. raddeana var. elata (Hemsley) Kitamura; L. vaniotii H. Léveillé; Prenanthes hieraciifolia H. Léveillé; Pterocypsela elata (Hemsley) C. Shih; P. raddeana (Maximowicz) C. Shih.

Herbs 0.8-2 m tall, biennial or perennial. Roots ramose. Stem solitary, erect, basal half ± densely hispid, apical half glabrous and branched. Lower and middle stem leaves with basal portion cuneate or winged petiole-like, 2-10 cm; apical portion ovate, elliptic, or triangular, 5-16 × 2-8.5 cm, undivided, pinnatipartite, or lyrately pinnatipartite, ± hispid, margin dentate and coarsely sinuate-dentate; lateral lobes 1-3 pairs, elliptic, apex acute; terminal lobe triangular, ovate-triangular, or subrhombic, apex acute. Upper stem leaves with basal portion shorter, winged, and petiole-like to cuneate, apical portion ovate, elliptic, or lanceolate. Synflorescence narrowly paniculate, with numerous capitula on wiry branches. Capitula with 8-11 florets. Involucre cylindric, 8-10 mm at anthesis, 9-11 × 4-5 mm in fruit. Phyllaries often pale purplish red; outer phyllaries triangular-ovate to lanceolate, largest ca. 5 × 1-2 mm, apex obtuse; inner phyllaries 5(or 6), apex obtuse. Florets bright yellow. Achene 3-4 mm; body reddish to dark brown, ellipsoid, compressed, broadly winged, 1.5-2 mm wide, with 3(-5) prominent ribs on either side, apically contracted into a concolorous or apically pale stout 0.2-0.4 mm beak. Pappus 6-7 mm, ± caducous. Fl. and fr. May-Oct. 2n = 18.

Forests, forest margins, thickets, moist areas on mountain slopes, mountain valleys, fields, trailsides; 200-3000 m. Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan [Japan, Korea, E Russia, Vietnam].

Although the range of variation in leaf shape is considerable, plants with undivided leaves (formerly referred to as Lactuca elata) and those with pinnatipartite leaves represent extremes of a ± continuous variation and indicate a certain genetic plasticity in this respect. Probably the various leaf shapes are a response to environmental factors. It is also indicative that comparable variation in leaf shape can also be observed in L. indica and L. formosana.