窄苞蒲公英 zhai bao pu gong ying

Leontodon bessarabicus Hornemann, Suppl. Hort. Bot. Hafn. 88. 1819.

Herbs 8-17 cm tall. Leaves prostrate to erect-patent, subglabrous; petiole pale green, rarely suffused pinkish, winged; leaf blade mid-green to pale yellowish green, narrowly oblanceolate to narrowly elliptic, 8-18 × 1.5-2.5 cm, almost undivided, dentate, or pinnatisect; lateral lobes 4-6, usually patent, often slightly forward pointing, rarely triangular and downward pointing, distal margin ± convex and with 1(or 2) prominent tooth, apex acuminate; interlobes usually short to indistinct or less often narrowly triangular-elongate, margin usually entire; terminal lobe triangular to elongate, 1-2 × 0.8-1 cm, margin entire or sparsely dentate, apex acuminate to subobtuse. Scapes ± equaling leaves, sparsely arachnoid, rarely with bractlets below capitulum. Capitulum 1-2 cm wide. Involucre almost cylindric, 5-7 mm wide, base narrowly rounded to obconic. Outer phyllaries 14-21, pale green to pale pinkish brown, linear to linear-lanceolate, (4-)5-6.5 × (0.6-)1-1.6(-2) mm, appressed, with an indistinct pale 0.2-0.4 mm wide border, slightly callose to minutely corniculate below apex. Ligules pale yellow; outer ligules subcanaliculate, outside striped reddish or pinkish gray; inner ligules canaliculate, with yellow or reddish apical teeth. Stigmas yellow, dirty yellow, or pale green. Anthers polliniferous; pollen grains regular in size. Achene pale grayish straw-colored brown, (4.5-)5-5.5(-6.5) mm; body sparsely to densely and usually shortly spinulose above, gradually to subabruptly narrowing into a subcylindric 1.1-1.4(-1.7) mm cone; beak 4.5-5 mm. Pappus pale pinkish brown, 5.5-6.5 mm. Fl. Jul-Oct. Sexual. 2n = 16.

Wet saline meadows and pastures; 400-2000 m. Ningxia, Xinjiang [Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia].

The big gap between the common occurrence of Taraxacum bessarabicum in Xinjiang and an isolated locality in Ningxia might be a result of imperfect exploration of the regions between them. In particular, the species is to be looked for in W Nei Mongol.