反苞斑鸠菊 fan bao ban jiu ju

Decaneurum silhetense Candolle, Prodr. 5: 67. 1836; Acilepis silhetensis (Candolle) H. Robinson; Gymnanthemum silhetense (Candolle) Schultz Bipontinus; Vernonia bracteata Wallich ex C. B. Clarke; V. bracteata var. subserrata Hosseus; V. silhetensis var. subserrata (Hosseus) Craib ex Kerr; Xipholepis silhetensis (Candolle) Steetz.

Erect herbs, to 60 cm tall or more. Stems erect, terete, striate, purplish hispidulous, denser toward apex, sparsely glandular. Leaves rather crowded, mostly uniform in size; petiole ± absent; leaf blade oblanceolate, 5.5-9 × 2.1-2.5 cm, stiffly papery, abaxially hispidulous on veins, glandular, adaxially sparsely minutely hispidulous between veins, eglandular, lateral veins 5-7-paired, adaxially prominent, reticulate veins abaxially very prominent, base cuneate, sometimes ± attenuate into petiole, margin sparsely serrate to subentire, apex acute or slightly acuminate; upper leaves smaller. Synflorescences terminal and subterminal, forming ill-defined panicle, sometimes reduced to single capitulum. Capitula 1-5 or more, 15-25 mm in diam.; peduncle to 5 cm, very variable, densely hispidulous, often with leaflike bracteoles. Involucre campanulate, 15-20 × 15-25 mm; phyllaries 5- or 6-seriate, upper part dark purplish, outer ovate to lanceolate, arachnoid when young, apex acuminate, often recurved, innermost oblong-oblanceolate, ca. 2.5 mm wide, apex often obtuse. Florets more than 50; corolla deep rose-purple, tubular, ca. 12 mm, sparsely glandular toward apex. Achenes cylindric, 2.5-3 mm, 10-ribbed, glabrous, glandular. Pappus 1-seriate, off-white; setae ca. 10 mm.

Open dry stony meadows at forest margins; 1300-1800(-3000) m. Yunnan [Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Myanmar, Thailand].

H. Koyama (Bull. Natl. Sci. Mus., Tokyo, B 30: 28. 2004) placed all collections from outside Assam in Vernonia silhetensis var. subserrata and included V. spirei within this taxon.