宝兴雪莲 bao xing xue lian

Herbs 20-40 cm tall, perennial. Caudex stout, woody, much branched. Stem solitary, 4-5 mm in diam. near base, erect, simple. Lower stem leaves sessile, linear, 6-25 × 0.6-0.9 cm, abaxially light green and densely lanate, adaxially green and sparsely villous, margin entire, apex acute. Upper stem leaves narrowly triangular-ovate, 5-12 × 1.2-1.5 cm. Uppermost stem leaves 12-14, sessile, ovate, 4.3-5 × 1.2-2.5 cm, membranous, aggregated and stellately spreading below capitulum, both surfaces yellowish white, abaxially sparsely villous, adaxially glabrous, margin entire and ciliate, apex acute. Capitulum solitary. Involucre broadly campanulate, ca. 2 cm in diam. Receptacle bristles 3-4 mm. Phyllaries in ca. 4 rows, yellowish to purplish black but with a dark brown margin, apically densely villous, margin minutely denticulate, apex acute; outer phyllaries narrowly ovate-elliptic, 11-13 × 2-2.5 mm; middle phyllaries narrowly ovate-elliptic, 10-12 × 1.5-2 mm; inner phyllaries narrowly elliptic, 9-10 × 1-1.1 mm. Corolla purple, 9-10 mm, tube 3-4 mm, limb 4.5-6 mm, lobes 1.3-1.5 mm. Achenes only seen when immature. Pappus dirty yellowish white; outer bristles 2.5-3 mm; inner bristles 7-8 mm. Fl. and fr. Aug-Sep.

● Open rock crevices; ca. 4000 m. Sichuan (Baoxing).

Saussurea baoxingensis is a very distinct taxon only known from the type collection and has not been observed in the field since 1936.