橐吾状蒲儿根 tuo wu zhuang pu er gen

Senecio ligularioides Handel-Mazzetti, Notizbl. Bot. Gart. Berlin-Dahlem 13: 640. 1937.

Herbs, scapigerous. Rhizomes robust, densely lanate at collar with fulvous silky hairs. Stems solitary, exceeding leaves, ca. 50 cm tall, ca. 4 mm in diam. at base, fulvous villous, simple, sometimes with 1 bractlike leaf in upper part. Leaves radical, rather few, rosulate, long petiolate; petiole stout, to 35 cm, sparsely reddish villous; blade adaxially pale green, reniform, 7-20 × 5-22 cm, thickly papery, abaxially sparsely pubescent-villous, adaxially glabrous, palmately 5-7-veined, with numerous ascending furcate secondary veins, prominently reticulate abaxially, base cordate, margin irregularly coarsely dentate with large deltoid callose-mucronulate teeth. Capitula ca. 1.5 cm in diam., rather numerous (5-26) in flat-topped terminal corymbs; peduncles 1-4.5 cm, slender, pubescent-villous, bracteate at base and few bracteate below capitula; bracts and bracteoles linear or linear-lanceolate, 5-12 mm. Involucres cylindric, campanulate when flattened, ca. 8 × 5-6 mm, not calyculate; phyllaries 8, oblong, 1.5-2 mm wide, herbaceous, glabrous or subglabrous, conspicuously 3-veined, margin broadly scarious, apically obtuse to subacute, purplish red, and puberulent. Ray florets ca. 8; corolla tube ca. 4 mm, glabrous; lamina yellow, oblong, ca. 8 × 2-2.2 mm, 4-veined, apically 3-denticulate. Disk florets numerous; corolla yellow, 6-6.5 mm, with ca. 3 mm tube and campanulate limb; lobes ovate-lanceolate, ca. 1.5 mm, apex acute. Anthers linear-oblong, ca. 2 mm, base obtuse to rounded. Style branches recurved, truncate, papillose. Achenes cylindric, ca. 2.5 mm, smooth, glabrous, ribbed. Pappus white, ca. 6 mm. Fl. Jun-Jul, fr. Jul-Aug. 2n = 60*.

● Grassy or rocky slopes; 1600-2300 m. Sichuan (Baoxing, Emei, Hongya).

Recognizable by the large, reniform leaves, Sinosenecio ligularioides is very similar to Ligularia, but the petioles are not sheathing at the base.