唐古特雪莲 tang gu te xue lian

Saussurea tangutica var. bayankaraensis W. Y. Wang.

Herbs 6-20(-30) cm tall, perennial, caespitose. Caudex simple or branched. Stems solitary or several, 2.5-4 mm in diam., erect, simple. Rosette and lower stem leaves petiolate; leaf blade narrowly elliptic, 3-9 × 0.7-2.3 cm, both surfaces green, abaxially pilose, adaxially scabrous but glabrescent, margin sinuate-dentate, apex acute and mucronate. Middle stem leaves sessile, 3.3-5 × 0.6-1.2 cm. Uppermost stem leaves ovate and boat-shaped, 3-4.5 × 1.5-2.5 cm, membranous, enclosing synflorescence and forming a lanternlike head of 3.5-7 cm in diam., both surfaces yellowish rose to purple, margin denticulate, apex acuminate. Capitula 1-5, solitary or in a condensed corymbiform synflorescence 3-7 cm in diam., subsessile. Involucre campanulate, 1-3 cm in diam. Phyllaries in ca. 4 rows, blackish purple, densely villous, apex acuminate; outer phyllaries elliptic, (5-)10-13 × 2-5 mm; middle phyllaries narrowly elliptic, 11-15 × 2-3 mm; inner phyllaries linear, 13-16 × 1-2 mm. Receptacle bristles 0.5-2 mm. Corolla purple, (1-)1.4-1.5 cm, tube (5-)6.5-8 mm, limb (5-)7-7.5 mm, lobes (2.8-)4.2-4.8 mm. Achene straw-colored, sometimes tinged purple and with blackish spots, cylindric, 4.5-5.5 mm. Pappus dirty white; outer bristles 2-4 mm; inner bristles 0.9-1.1 cm. Fl. and fr. Jul-Sep.

● Alpine scree slopes, alpine meadows; 3600-5300 m. Gansu, Qinghai, NW Sichuan, Xizang.