阿尔泰蓟 a er tai ji

Cirsium argenteum Peyer ex Vest; C. arvense var. argenteum (Peyer ex Vest) Fiori; C. arvense var. incanum (S. G. Gmelin) Ledebour; C. incanum (S. G. Gmelin) Fischer ex M. Bieberstein; Serratula incana S. G. Gmelin.

Stems grayish white, cobwebby-felted in upper half. Leaves discolorous, abaxially grayish white and densely felted, adaxially green and glabrous or sparsely cobwebby. Lower and middle cauline leaves sessile with cuneate base, elliptic to ovate, 7-8 × ca. 3.4 cm, undivided or sometimes pinnately divided into entire lobes, base cuneate, densely fringed with tender 0.2-0.5 mm spinules. Upper cauline leaves similar but smaller. Involucre glabrous. Outer and middle phyllaries tipped with a ca. 1 mm spinule. Fl. and fr. Aug-Sep. 2n = 34, 68.

Grasslands on flooded lands; 500-1700 m. Xinjiang (Altay Shan) [Kazakhstan; SW Asia, Europe].