红冠川木香 hong guan chuan mu xiang

Herbs, perennial, stemless. Rosette leaves petiolate; petiole ca. 5 cm; leaf blade elliptic, 9-24 × 5-8 cm, bipinnately lobed to bipinnately divided, abaxially grayish white and densely tomentose, adaxially green and glabrous; primary lobes ca. 8 pairs, narrowly ovate to elliptic; secondary lobes triangular, narrowly triangular, or ovate, margin spinulose-denticulate. Capitula ca. 8, clustered in center of leaf rosette, forming a hemispheric synflorescence, shortly pedunculate. Involucre campanulate, ca. 2.5 cm in diam. Phyllaries in ca. 6 rows, dark red, leathery, glabrous, apex acuminate; outer phyllaries narrowly ovate-triangular, ca. 10 × 2 mm; middle phyllaries narrowly triangular, 1.5-2.5 × 0.5-0.6 cm; inner phyllaries narrowly ovate-elliptic to elliptic, 2.3-3.5 × 0.6-0.7 cm. Corolla purplish red, ca. 3 cm, tube ca. 2.2 cm, limb 8-10 mm, lobes 4-5 mm. Style branches linear, narrowed, divergent. Achene (ripe) unknown. Pappus bristles in many rows, brownish in basal half and brick-colored in apical half, scabrid, ca. 1.8 cm. Fl. Sep.

● Alpine meadows, thickets; ca. 3400 m. S Xizang (Gyirong).

Dolomiaea lateritia is only known from the type collection. Except for the divergent and narrowed style branches and for the pappus color, this species is very similar to D. calophylla and D. macrocephala. Lack of material does not permit a decision here about whether these plants are conspecific or not.