湖北风毛菊 hu bei feng mao ju

Saussurea decurrens Hemsley, J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 29: 310. 1892, not Hemsley (1888).

Herbs 30-60(-75) cm tall, perennial. Stem solitary, erect, apically branched, narrowly winged, sparsely arachnoid and glandular hairy. Lower and middle stem leaves petiolate; petiole 0.5-5.5 cm, winged, base decurrent; leaf blade ovate, oblong, or narrowly ovate-elliptic, 5-10(-15) × 2-3.5 cm, abaxially green, gland-dotted, and sparsely tomentose, adaxially dark green and glabrescent, base cuneate and abruptly narrowed into petiole, margin crenate to dentate, apex acuminate to caudate. Upper stem leaves shortly petiolate or sessile, gradually smaller upward on stem; leaf blade narrowly ovate-elliptic, base decurrent. Capitula numerous, to 3-5 in a clustered corymbiform synflorescence at end of branches, shortly pedunculate. Involucre narrowly campanulate, 5-7(-10) mm in diam. Phyllaries in 5 or 6 rows, basally yellowish green, apically sometimes purplish, glabrous or arachnoid, apex obtuse; outer phyllaries ovate, 1.5-2 × 1-1.5 mm; middle phyllaries narrowly ovate, 2-6 × 1.5-2 mm; inner phyllaries linear, 7-8(-10) × 0.8-1.5 mm. Receptacle bristles subulate, 4-5 mm. Corolla purple, 8-9(-12) mm, tube 4-5 mm, limb 4-4.5 mm, lobes 2.5-3 mm. Achene cylindric, 3-4 mm, glabrous. Pappus dirty white; outer bristles 1-3 mm, scabrid; inner bristles 6-9 mm. Fl. and fr. Jul-Sep.

● Montane forests, moist places; 2200-3800 m. ?Guizhou, Hubei, ?Sichuan, NW Yunnan.

Saussurea hemsleyi was mistakenly treated by Handel-Mazzetti as S. parviflora var. atriplicifolia (Acta Horti Gothob. 12: 317. 1938).