多伞阿魏 duo san a wei

Peucedanum feruloides Steudel, Nomencl. Bot., ed. 2, 2: 311. 1841 ["ferulaeoides"].

Plants 1–1.5 m. Root fusiform. Stem stout, solitary, rarely 2–4, sparsely pubescent, paniculate-branched from middle, branches verticillate, occasionally alternate. Basal leaf blade broadly ovate, ternate-4-pinnate/pinnatifid; ultimate segments ovate, ca. 10 mm, usually parted, lobules entire or toothed, densely pubescent, deciduous. Inflorescence copiously cymose-branched, often several simple umbels successively verticillate on the same branch, forming a crowded moniliform raceme; umbels ca. 2 cm across; bracts absent; rays 4, subequal; bracteoles small, deciduous; umbellules ca. 10-flowered. Stylopodium depressed-conic. Fruit ellipsoid, 3–7 × 1.5–3 mm; vittae 1 in each furrow, 2 on commissure. Fl. May, fr. Jun.

Desert gravels; 400–1100 m. NC Xinjiang [Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Russia (Siberia), Uzbekistan].

In C Asia the leaves are harvested for cattle fodder, and the plants have reputed medicinal value, presumably as a regional substitute for the traditional Chinese medincine “a wei” (Ferula assafoetida Linnaeus).