紫毛蒲儿根 zi mao pu er gen

Senecio villifer Franchet, J. Bot. (Morot) 8: 362. 1894 ["villiferus"]; Ligularia villifera (Franchet) Diels.

Herbs, scapigerous. Rhizomes stout, to 10 mm in diam., clad in persistent blackish brown petiole bases. Stems solitary, erect, scapiform, 25-40 cm tall, with or without few villous bracts, villous with long reddish brown hairs. Leaves few, radical, rosulate, long petiolate; petiole 9-11 cm, densely villous or pubescent with long reddish brown hairs; blade suborbicular, 3.5-8.5 × 3.5-11 cm, papery or subleathery, both surfaces villous or pubescent with reddish brown hairs, sometimes glabrescent by anthesis, base cordate, margin shallowly repand-dentate with deltoid mucronulate teeth. Capitula radiate, usually 5-8 in terminal subumbelliform corymbs; peduncles 1-2.5 cm, villous with long reddish brown hairs, with basal bract and 2-4 bracteoles; bracteoles linear-subulate, 5-10 mm, membranous, densely villous, 1-veined, apically acute. Involucres cylindric, obconic-ovoid when flattened, 6-8 × 7-10 mm, not calyculate; phyllaries 8-10, ovate-lanceolate, 7-8 × 1.5-2 mm, herbaceous, sparsely villous and shortly glandular hairy, margin scarious, apically acute or subacute, purple-reddish, ciliate. Ray florets 8-10, ca. 14 mm; corolla tube ca. 3.5 mm; lamina yellow, ovate-oblong, ca. 11 × 2-2.2 mm, 7-veined, apically 3-denticulate. Disk florets numerous; corolla yellow, ca. 7 mm, with 3-3.5 mm tube and campanulate limb; lobes oblong-ovate, apically acute. Anthers oblong, ca. 2.5 mm, basally obtuse, appendages ovate-oblong. Style branches recurved, ca. 1 mm. Achenes (immature) cylindric, 2-2.2 mm, smooth, glabrous. Pappus white, ca. 6 mm. Fl. Apr-Jun, fr. Jun-Jul. 2n = 60*, 90*.

● Woods on slopes; 900-1700 m. Chongqing (Chengkou), Sichuan (Tongjiang, Wanyuan, Xuanhan).

Sinosenecio villifer is similar to S. eriopodus and S. dryas. From the former, it differs in the suborbicular leaf blade villous with reddish brown hairs or sometimes glabrescent, and from the latter it differs in the rhizomes stout, the capitula 5-8 in terminal subumbelliform corymbs, and the phyllaries 8-10.