大序齿冠 da xu chi guan

Saussurea frolowii Ledebour, Icon. Pl. 4: 16. 1833; Aplotaxis frolowii (Ledebour) Candolle.

Herbs 25-80[-110] cm tall, perennial. Stem solitary, 5-8 mm in diam., simple, apically sparsely leafy or leafless. Basal and lower stem leaves petiolate; petiole to 15 cm; leaf blade obovate-elliptic, 10-35 × 5-20 cm, lyrately pinnatisect, abaxially grayish green and arachnoid tomentose, adaxially green and sparsely pilose; lateral lobes 1-4 pairs, ovate-triangular, gradually smaller toward base; terminal lobe ovate to triangular-hastate, large, margin crenate-dentate or subentire, apex acuminate. Middle and upper stem leaves narrowly ovate-oblong to linear, 3-15 × 0.2-2 cm, margin dentate or entire. Capitula solitary or rarely 2, nodding. Involucre broadly campanulate to hemispheric, 2-3 cm in diam. Phyllaries in ca. 6 rows, blackish green, narrowly triangular-ovate to linear, 2.5-2.8 × 0.15-0.3 cm, subequal in length, apex long acuminate; outer phyllaries reflexed; inner phyllaries erect. Receptacle bristles filiform, 6-12 mm. Corolla reddish purple, 1.5-1.6 cm, tube 7-9 mm, limb 6-8 mm, lobes (2.5-)5-6 mm. Achene brown to straw-colored with dark spots, cylindric to obconic, 5-8 mm, wrinkled, apex with a short obtusely crenulate crown. Pappus straw-colored, bristles 1.1-1.3 cm. Fl. Jul-Aug. 2n = 36.

Alpine and subalpine meadows, forest meadows, coniferous forests; ca. 2000 m. N Xinjiang [Kazakhstan, Russia (S Siberia)].

The specific epithet of Saussurea frolowii is spelled in the protologue with a "w" (except on the accompanying figure, which, however, does not have nomenclatural impact), whereas the sectional and hence the generic names are spelled with a "v." As both spellings are transcriptions from a Russian personal name, the former in German and the latter in Latin, they cannot be treated as correctable errors but have to be accepted as they are.