瓜叶千里光 gua ye qian li guang

Herbs, perennial, rhizomatous. Stem solitary, erect, 60-120 cm tall, simple, somewhat flexuous, adpressed puberulent when young; basal and lower stem leaves withered and shed by anthesis; median stem leaf petioles 1.5-2 cm, basally auriculate; auricle leaflike, irregularly serrate or lacerate, subamplexicaul; blade adaxially dark green, abaxially pale green, ovate-elliptic or ovate-oblong, to 16 × 9-10 cm, papery, abaxially sparsely puberulent on distinctly reticulate veins, adaxially sparsely shortly pubescent, pinnatipartite into an oblong-lanceolate attenuate terminal lobe and 8-14 oblong or oblong-lanceolate, acuminate or attenuate, irregularly sharply serrate or lacerate lateral lobes. Upper leaves smaller, few, less deeply lobed; uppermost leaves linear-lanceolate or linear, margin shallowly toothed or subentire. Capitula radiate, numerous, arranged in rather dense terminal and upper axillary corymbs; peduncles 5-10 mm, densely fulvous puberulent, with 2 or 3 linear bracteoles. Involucres cylindric or narrowly campanulate, 7-8 × 2-3 mm, prominently calyculate; bracts of calyculus 5 or 6, green, linear, unequal, to 1/2 as long as involucre; phyllaries 8, oblong-lanceolate, ca. 1 mm wide, herbaceous, puberulent, margin narrowly scarious, apically obtuse, purplish and puberulent. Ray florets 5; corolla tube ca. 4 mm; lamina yellow, oblong, ca. 6 mm, 4-veined, 3-denticulate. Disk florets 15 or 16; corolla yellow, ca. 8 mm, with ca. 4 mm tube; lobes ovate-lanceolate, apically acute, papillose. Anthers ca. 2 mm, basally shortly obtuse-auriculate, appendages ovate-lanceolate; antheropodia elongate, gradually slightly dilated in lower half. Style branches ca. 1.2 mm. Achenes cylindric, ca. 2.5 mm, glabrous. Pappus white, ca. 6 mm. Fl. Aug-Sep.

● Montane meadows; 2300-3200 m. Yunnan.