少头风毛菊 shao tou feng mao ju

Saussurea acrophila Diels var. oligocephala Y. Ling, Contr. Inst. Bot. Natl. Acad. Peiping 3: 155. 1935.

Herbs 10-60 cm tall, perennial. Rhizome obliquely ascending, apically covered with remains of petioles. Stem solitary, slender, erect, apically branched, sparsely arachnoid, glabrescent. Basal leaves petiolate; leaf blade obovate to narrowly obovate-elliptic, 4-12 × 2-4.5 cm, thinly papery, abaxially purplish red and subglabrous, adaxially green and with multicellular articulate hairs, base cuneate-attenuate, margin sinuate or dentate, apex acute to obtuse. Stem leaves few, linear, small, margin entire. Capitula solitary or 2-9 in a lax corymbiform synflorescence. Involucre turbinate to narrowly campanulate, 6-9 mm in diam. Phyllaries in 4 or 5 rows, arachnoid; outer phyllaries ovate, ca. 3 × 2 mm, apex obtuse; middle phyllaries elliptic, ca. 8 × 1.8 mm, apex obtuse; inner phyllaries narrowly ovate-elliptic to broadly linear, ca. 11 × 1 mm, apex obtuse. Corolla purple, ca. 1.2 cm, tube ca. 6 mm, limb ca. 6 mm. Achene oblong, ca. 3 mm, ribbed, glabrous, apex with a short crown. Pappus white; outer bristles 2-3 mm; inner bristles ca. 7 mm. Fl. and fr. Sep-Oct.

● Forests, thickets; 2000-3000 m. S Shaanxi (Qin Ling).