黄毛兔儿风 huang mao tu er feng

Ainsliaea fulvioides H. Chuang; A. fulvioides var. glabriachenia H. Chuang; A. lijiangensis H. Chuang.

Herbs, perennial, 15-45 cm tall. Leaves in basal rosette; petiole 2-7 cm, wingless; leaf blade elliptic or subovate, 3-7.5 × 1.5-4 cm, subleathery, palmate-pinnate veined, both surfaces strigose, base rounded, margin callose-denticulate, apex rounded or obtuse. Synflorescence axis solitary, obscurely bracteate; paraclades in spike. Capitula subsessile or shortly pedunculate, (1 or)2 or 3, arranged in spikes; involucre cylindric, ca. 3 mm in diam.; phyllaries ca. 5-seriate, subleathery, abaxially apically sparsely pilose, outer phyllaries ovate, 2-3 mm, inner oblong or lanceolate, 5-10 mm. Florets bisexual, chasmogamous and cleistogamous. Chasmogamous floret corollas tubular, ca. 9 mm, deeply 5-lobed, anther appendages rounded. Immature achenes oblong, ca. 1.8 mm; pappus brownish, ca. 6 mm. Fl. Sep-Oct. Cleistogamous floret corollas closed, tubular, minutely 5-lobed, ca. 3.5 mm, hidden in pappus. Achenes oblong, 3-3.5 mm, commonly densely pilose; pappus ca. 5 mm. Fl. May, Jul-Nov.

● Open forests, forest margins, grassy areas of mountain slopes; 1300-2700 m. Guangdong, Sichuan, Yunnan.

The variation patterns of the differential characters mentioned in the protologues of Ainsliaea fulvipes, A. fulvioides, A. fulvioides var. glabriachenia, and A. lijiangensis, e.g., achene pubescence and floret type (i.e., both chasmogamous and cleistogamous florets in the same plant or only cleistogamous florets) seem very complex. The present taxonomy is a temporary treatment based on limited specimens, and extensive field investigations at the population levels are needed to clarify their identities.