昆仑风毛菊 kun lun feng mao ju

Saussurea pusilla Lipschitz.

Herbs 3-7(-9) cm tall, perennial, stemless or shortly stemmed. Caudex long and thin, ascending, apically branched, covered with brownish remains of leaf sheaths. Stems solitary or few, erect, simple, arachnoid tomentose. Basal leaves indistinctly petiolate; leaf blade narrowly linear, 1-7 × 0.1-0.4 cm, undivided or pinnately lobed, abaxially grayish white and arachnoid tomentose, adaxially grayish green and arachnoid, margin revolute and entire or sparsely dentate, apex acute. Stem leaves few, shortly petiolate; petiole basally widened, semiamplexicaul; leaf blade gradually smaller upward on stem. Capitula solitary or 2, terminal on stem. Involucre cylindric to campanulate, (0.6-)1-1.5 cm in diam. Phyllaries in 4 or 5 rows, pale green, densely lanate, apex acuminate; outer phyllaries ovate to narrowly ovate, ca. 5 × 2 mm; middle phyllaries narrowly ovate-elliptic, 5-10 × 2-2.5 mm; inner phyllaries narrowly elliptic to linear, 10-13 × 1.5-2 mm. Receptacle naked or with very short papillae but without bristles. Corolla pink or white, 1.5-1.7 cm, sparsely gland-dotted, tube 8-9 mm, limb 6-8 mm, lobes 2.5-3 mm. Achene brown, cylindric, 3-5 mm, ribbed, densely gland-dotted. Pappus dirty white; outer bristles 0.5-3.5 mm, plumose; inner bristles 1.2-1.4 cm. Fl. and fr. Jul-Aug.

● Alpine stony slopes, scree slopes, grazed areas, silt or mud; 3000-3800 m. S Xinjiang (Kunlun Shan).