南川紫菊 nan chuan zi ju

Herbs 0.7-1.5 m tall, perennial. Stem solitary, erect, branched apically, glabrous, leafy. Basal and middle stem leaves with petiole ca. 4.5 cm, unwinged, basally not widened; leaf blade pinnatipartite to subpinnatisect, margin mucronulately dentate and lobe margin mucronate or with 1 large triangular tooth on one side; lateral lobes 2 or 3 pairs, narrowly elliptic to narrowly rhombic, 3-4 × 1-1.5 cm, base truncate, apex acute to acuminate; terminal lobe narrowly elliptic to obliquely narrowly elliptic, 3-4 × 1-1.5 cm, apex acute to acuminate. Upper stem leaves narrowly elliptic to narrowly elliptic-lanceolate, ca. 5.5 × 1 cm, undivided, apex acuminate. Synflorescence paniculiform, with numerous capitula. Capitula with ca. 5 florets. Involucre 13-15 × 2-3 mm. Phyllaries purple, abaxially glabrous, apex rounded to obtuse; outer phyllaries lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, longest ca. 6 × 1-1.5 mm; inner phyllaries 5. Florets purple. Achene ca. 5 mm, basally more attenuate than apically. Pappus ca. 8 mm. Fl. and fr. Sep. 2n = 18*.

● Forests on mountain slopes; 1800-1900 m. Chongqing (Nanchuan), Guizhou.

Notoseris porphyrolepis is closely related to N. melanantha and mainly distinguished by the leaf shape, as given in the key.