垂头千里光 chui tou qian li guang

Herbs, rhizomatous. Stem solitary, erect, 15-35 cm tall, at first white arachnoid, glabrescent. Basal leaves mostly withered by anthesis; lower stem leaf petiole equaling or shorter than blade, narrowly winged, basally expanded; blade oblanceolate or spatulate, 4-6 × 0.8-1.5 cm, abaxially densely white tomentose, adaxially sparsely arachnoid and glabrescent, pinnately veined, base attenuate into petiole, margin mucronulate-denticulate, apex obtuse. Median and upper leaves subsessile; blade oblanceolate to linear, 3-5 × 0.3-0.6 cm, base slightly expanded and subamplexicaul, apex obtuse or subacute. Capitula radiate, nodding, few to rather numerous, arranged in a narrow elongated terminal thyrse; bracts oblanceolate-linear, similar to upper leaves but smaller, to 3 cm; peduncles 0.5-2.5 cm, densely arachnoid-tomentose, recurved at apex, with 1 or 2 linear-subulate bracteoles. Involucres cylindric or narrowly campanulate, 5-6 × 3-5 mm, calyculate; bracts of calyculus 5 or 6, purplish, linear-subulate, 1-3 mm; phyllaries 13(-15), linear, ca. 6 × 0.6-1 mm, herbaceous, blackish on veins and in upper part, sparsely arachnoid, glabrescent, with narrow scarious margins, apically acute, fimbriate and sometimes villous. Ray florets 6-8; corolla tube ca. 3.5 mm; lamina yellow, oblong-linear, 6-6.5 × 2-2.5 mm, 4-veined, apically 3-denticulate. Disk florets 23-25; corolla yellow, ca. 8 mm, with ca. 3.5 mm tube and funnelform limb; lobes ovate-oblong, ca. 1 mm, apically purplish, acute, and papillose. Anthers ca. 2.5 mm, basally subacutely auriculate, appendages ovate-lanceolate; antheropodia elongated, robust, basally slightly dilated. Style branches ca. 1 mm. Achenes cylindric, 1.5-2 mm, glabrous. Pappus white, ca. 7 mm. Fl. Jul-Sep.

● Wet places, riverbanks, gravel of riversides, streambeds; 2900-3600 m. E Xizang (Bomi, Gongbo’gyamda).