小葵子 xiao kui zi

Polymnia abyssinica Linnaeus f., Suppl. Pl. 383. 1782.

Annuals. Stems 30-50 cm to 1-2 m tall, subglabrous, ± pilose above. Leaves sessile (lower petiolate), oblong-ovate or lanceolate, ± shortly hairy abaxially, especially along veins, glabrous adaxially, base semiamplexicaul, apex acuminate. Capitula 2-6 cm in diam., on long or sometimes short pubescent peduncles; outer phyllaries leaflike, ovate, herbaceous, inner narrower, paleaceous or scarious. Ray florets with short tube and 3-lobed lamina, pubescent or only at base of lamina and in lower part. Disk florets tubular, pubescent as in ray florets, 5-lobed. Outer achenes triquetrous, inner ± 4-angled, 3-6 × 1.5-3 mm, obpyramidal, in transverse section subrhombic or triangular, brown or black, with thin pericarp.

Cultivated in Fujian, Sichuan, and Yunnan [native to Africa (N Ethiopia); naturalized in India].

This species, originating in the Ethiopian highlands, is grown for its edible oil and seed.