瓜叶葵 gua ye kui

Helianthus cucumerifolius Torrey & A. Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 2: 319. 1842.

Herbs, annual or perennial, 40-200 cm. Stems erect, glabrous, hirsute, or puberulent. Leaves cauline, mostly alternate; petiole 1-7 cm; blade deltate-ovate, lanceolate-ovate, or ovate, 2.5-14 × 1.8-13 cm, abaxially glabrous to hispid, not gland-dotted, base cordate to truncate or broadly cuneate, margin subentire to serrate, apex acute. Capitula 1-3, radiate; peduncles 9-30 cm; involucres hemispheric, 10-22 mm in diam.; phyllaries lanceolate 8-17 × 1-3 mm, abaxially glabrous or hispid, apex acute to long attenuate; paleae 7.5-8 mm, apex 3-toothed. Ray florets 11-23; corollas yellow. Disk florets ca. 30; corollas reddish, sometimes yellow, 4.5-5 mm; style branches reddish or yellow. Achenes 5-12 mm, glabrous or sparsely setuliferous; pappus of 2 lanceolate or linear-lanceolate awns, 1.2-2.5 mm.

Roadsides, roadside ditches, seashores. Recently introduced and naturalized in Taiwan; also cultivated in Beijing and Shanghai and sometimes naturalized [native to North America].

The occurrence of this taxon in Taiwan was first reported by Y. H. Tseng et al. (Taiwania 53: 316-320. 2008).