羽叶鬼针草 yu ye gui zhen cao

Annuals. Stems 30-50(-80) cm tall, erect, simple or branched with obliquely upright branches, glabrous or sparsely and finely hairy mainly in upper part. Leaves petiolate, pinnatisect (rarely ternate); segments narrow and long, oblong to linear, laterals (1 or)2 or 3, 2-3 cm to 7-8 cm, apical segments usually larger than laterals, serrate-toothed, margins fine with appressed prickles. Capitula discoid, solitary or in groups of 2 or 3 at apex of stem and its branches, flat, wider than long and measuring ca. 15 mm; outer phyllaries green, oblong, distinctly exceeding florets, inner brown-green, shorter, lanceolate, as long as achenes (including awns). Corollas tubular, yellow. Achenes cuneate, ca. 4 mm, laterally compressed, margin tuberculate and slightly hairy with relatively long and abundant retrorse bristly hairs; awns 2. Fl. Jul-Aug.

Riverbanks, wet places in meadows, humus-rich sandy soil. Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol [Japan, Korea, Russia].