白苞斑鸠菊 bai bao ban jiu ju

Small tree. Branches robust, striate, buds densely ferruginous tomentose. Petiole stout, 3-7 mm, densely ferruginous tomentose; leaf blade ovate-oblanceolate or oblanceolate, 11-18 × 3-7.5 cm, leathery or thinly leathery, brownish when dry, abaxially densely brownish fulvous tomentose, adaxially puberulent, glabrescent later, lateral veins 18-20, midrib and lateral veins abaxially prominent, reticulate veins prominent on both surfaces, base cuneate, margin obscurely denticulate and callose-mucronulate, apex shortly acuminate or acute. Synflorescences terminal and subterminal, panicles flat-topped, subglobose. Capitula 8 or 9, up to 30 mm in diam.; peduncle 1.5-4 cm, densely fulvous tomentose; bracteoles linear-lanceolate. Involucre obconical, ca. 25 × 30 mm; phyllaries 7- or 8-seriate, leathery, outer ovate, 3-4 × 2-2.5 mm, median ovate-oblong, 8-10 × ca. 4 mm, inner oblong, 15-17 × 2.5-3 mm, densely yellowish tomentose and glandular, apex rounded. Florets many; corolla reddish, ca. 12 mm, glandular and puberulent; lobes lanceolate, 3-4 mm, apex white pilose. Achenes cylindric, 7-8 mm, 10-ribbed, sparsely adpressed puberulent and glandular. Pappus 2-seriate, sordid white; outer setae few, scalelike; inner setae ca. 11 mm, scabrid. Fl. Jun.

● Mixed forests on limestone hills. Guangxi (Jishan).

One of us (Gilbert) believes that this species belongs with the group of species placed by Robinson in Acilepis and that the description of it as a "tree" is rather misleading. Based on the image of the herbarium sheet, it seems much more likely that it came from a robust erect herb, perhaps with a single stem and hence the description as a small tree.