Paraprenanthes in Flora of China @ efloras.org

59. Paraprenanthes C. C. Chang ex C. Shih, Acta Phytotax. Sin. 26: 418. 1988.

假福王草属 jia fu wang cao shu

Herbs, perennial or more rarely annual. Stem usually solitary, erect, branched apically, glabrous or glandular hairy, leafy or rarely ± leafless. Leaves pinnately lobed or more rarely undivided. Synflorescence with capillaceous branches. Capitula often pendent at anthesis, with 4-15 florets; peduncle capillaceous. Involucre narrowly cylindric. Phyllaries usually green and tinged pale purplish red, glabrous; outer phyllaries few, gradually longer centripetally, mostly much shorter than inner phyllaries; inner phyllaries usually 5 or 8, ± equal in length, ± linear-lanceolate to linear. Receptacle naked. Florets pale reddish or purple. Achene body dark to blackish brown, fusiform, weakly compressed, with 5 main ribs (2 lateral, 1 median ventrally, and 2 median dorsally) and 2 rather similar secondary ribs in between, apically attenuate and pale but without or rarely with a short beak. Pappus white, single, of slender scabrid bristles.

Twelve species: E and SE Asia; 12 species (11 endemic) in China.

1 Involucre with 5(or 6) inner phyllaries (2)

+ Involucre with ca. 8 inner phyllaries (5)

2 (1) Stem leafless or with a single or very few leaves; leaves mostly undivided or more rarely with 1 pair of very small ovate lateral lobes. 6 P. umbrosa

+ Stem leafy throughout; leaves with 1-7 pairs of lateral lobes or more rarely undivided (3)

3 (2) Lower and middle stem leaves pinnatisect to subpinnatisect, with 4-7 pairs of ± narrowly elliptic lateral lobes, rachis for most part not or narrowly winged. 10 P. dolichophylla

+ Lower and middle stem leaves lyrately pinnatifid to pinnatisect, with 1-4 pairs of elliptic to triangular lobes or more rarely undivided, rachis for most part at least broadly winged (4)

4 (3) Stem leaves with mostly a slender cuneately winged petiole and undivided blade or blade lyrately pinnatipartite to lyrately pinnatisect with 1 or 2(or 3) pairs of lobes. 8 P. diversifolia

+ Stem leaves with an unwinged petiole and lyrately pinnatifid to lyrately pinnatipartite blade with 3 or 4 pairs of lobes. 9 P. heptantha

5 (1) Middle and upper stem leaves auriculately to sagittately clasping stem (6)

+ Stem leaves not clasping stem and except for uppermost ± petiolate (7)

6 (5) Leaves sagittately clasping stem; outer phyllaries longest 5-8 mm. 2 P. yunnanensis

+ Leaves auriculately clasping stem; outer phyllaries longest 4-5 mm. 3 P. auriculiformis

7 (5) Stem leaves all palmately 3-lobed or palmately 3-cleft. 11 P. multiformis

+ Stem leaves undivided or pinnately lobed with 1-8 pairs of lateral lobes (8)

8 (7) Middle stem leaves sessile, 3-parted, with to 20 cm linear terminal lobe and 1 pair of very small broadly linear-lanceolate lateral lobes at its base. 12 P. longiloba

+ Middle stem leaves petiolate, undivided or pinnately divided with (1 or)2-5 pairs of lateral lobes (9)

9 (8) Middle stem leaves lyrately pinnate, pinnatifid, or pinnatisect with broader lateral or terminal lobes or rarely undivided (10)

+ Middle stem leaves pinnatisect with conspicuously narrow and longish (most of them linear or linear-lanceolate) lateral and terminal lobes (11)

10 (9) Leaves adaxially glaucous, margin shallowly and distantly dentate; synflorescence corymbiform; achene ca. 5 mm, attenuate into a pale stout ca. 1 mm beak. 1 P. polypodiifolia

+ Leaves adaxially green, margin usually strongly dentate; synflorescence narrowly paniculiform; achene 4-5 mm, attenuate into a pale ca. 1 mm beaklike apex. 7 P. sororia

11 (9) Basal leaves undivided but other leaves pinnatisect with 1-3(or 4) pairs of lateral lobes. 4 P. prenanthoides

+ All but uppermost leaves pinnatisect, with 2-8 pairs of lateral lobes. 5 P. glandulosissima

List of lower taxa