红柄雪莲 hong bing xue lian

Saussurea globosa F. H. Chen var. monocephala Lipschitz; S. nigrescens Maximowicz var. acutisquama Y. Ling; S. polycolea Handel-Mazzetti var. acutisquama (Y. Ling) Lipschitz; S. uniflora (Candolle) Wallich ex Schultz Bipontinus var. pumila Maximowicz.

Herbs 10-30 cm tall, perennial. Caudex simple or few branched. Stems solitary or 2, 1-3 mm in diam., erect, simple. Basal and lower stem leaves petiolate; leaf blade narrowly elliptic, 1.5-10 × 0.7-2(-3.5) cm, both surfaces green, abaxially densely glandular hairy, adaxially glandular hairy but glabrescent, margin sinuate-denticulate, apex acute to acuminate. Middle and upper stem leaves sessile, 2.5-4 × 0.4-0.9 cm, both surfaces green to purple, margin sinuate-denticulate or entire. Uppermost stem leaves sessile, elliptic and boat-shaped, 1.5-3.5 × 0.3-1 cm, both surfaces purple, margin entire, apex acuminate. Capitula (1 or)2 or 3(-5), in a corymbiform synflorescence or rarely solitary, pedunculate. Involucre obconic, 1.5-2(-3) cm in diam. Phyllaries in 4 or 5 rows, blackish purple, pilose, apex acute; outer phyllaries triangular-ovate, 8-10.5 × 2.5-5.5 mm; middle phyllaries narrowly triangular, 10-12 × 1.5-2.5 mm; inner phyllaries linear, 11-12 × 0.5-1.5 mm. Receptacle bristles 3-5.5 mm. Corolla purple, 1.1-1.7 cm, tube 5.5-7 mm, limb 6-9 mm, lobes 3.2-5 mm. Achene straw-colored with blackish spots, obovoid to cylindric, 3-4 mm, indistinctly ribbed. Pappus dirty white; outer bristles 1-4.5 mm; inner bristles 8.5-10 mm. Fl. Jul-Aug, fr. Aug-Oct.

● Grassy areas in marshes, by rivers, mountain valleys, meadows; 2400-4900 m. Gansu, Qinghai, NW Sichuan, Xizang.

The type of Saussurea nigrescens var. acutisquama clearly belongs to this taxon. Unfortunately, the combination of this epithet with S. polycolea by Lipschitz (who had no opportunity to check the type) was widely misapplied for an entirely different taxon, S. acutisquama, which was recently recognized as a good species.