麻花头(原亚种) ma hua tou (yuan ya zhong)

Serratula centauroides Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 820. 1753; Klasea centauroides var. albiflora Y. B. Chang; K. centauroides var. yamatsutana (Kitagawa) Kitagawa; K. mongolicola (Kitagawa) Kitagawa; K. ortholepis (Kitagawa) Kitagawa; S. mongolicola Kitagawa; S. ortholepis Kitagawa; S. polycephala Iljin var. ortholepis (Kitagawa) Y. Ling ex H. C. Fu; S. yamatsutana Kitagawa; S. yamatsutana var. mongolicola (Kitagawa) Kitagawa.

Herbs (10-)25-80 cm tall. Rhizomes prostrate. Stem unbranched or sparingly branched in upper part. Petiole of basal and lower stem leaves 2-10 cm; leaf blade elliptic to narrowly elliptic in outline, 5-12(-16) × 2-5(-8) cm, pinnatipartite; lateral lobes 5-8 pairs, narrowly elliptic to broadly linear, margin entire or few toothed, apex acute. Middle stem leaves sessile or very shortly petiolate, similar in form and same in division to basal and lower stem leaves; lateral segments usually at right angle or nearly so. Upper stem leaves smaller than others. Peduncles 1-12(-18) cm. Capitula 1-4(-12). Involucre ovoid to narrowly ovoid, 1.1-2.2 cm in diam., base rounded or slightly umbilicate, apically ± constricted. Phyllaries loosely imbricate, in 6-8 rows; outer and middle phyllaries triangular, triangular-ovate, or ovate-lanceolate, 4-15 × 2.5-4 mm, leathery, greenish, darker toward apex and purple at margin, apex acute and with a 0.5-2 mm spinule; inner and innermost phyllaries narrowly elliptic or linear, 10-20 × 1-2 mm, transitioning into appendage; appendage straw-colored or purple-tinged, linear to linear-lanceolate, slightly bent outward or almost straight, margin slightly revolute or plane. Fl. and fr. Jun-Sep. 2n = 30, 60.

Mountain slopes, steppes, meadows, sandy hills; 800-1700 m. Hebei, Heilongjiang, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Shandong [Mongolia, Russia].