美头合耳菊 mei tou he er ju

Senecio calocephalus C. C. Chang, Bull. Fan Mem. Inst. Biol., Bot. 6: 48. 1935, not Poeppig (1845), nor Hemsley (1881).

Subshrubs or shrubby herbs. Stems erect, to 150 cm tall, simple or corymbosely branched in upper part, fulvous pubescent, glabrescent. Leaves shortly petiolate; petiole 1-2 cm, sparsely pubescent; blade elliptic or lanceolate-elliptic, 14-17 × 4.5-7 cm, papery, abaxially dull and sparsely shortly pubescent especially on veins and glabrescent, adaxially nitid and sparsely fulvous pubescent especially on midvein, pinnately veined, lateral veins 12-14, arcuate-ascending, veins prominent abaxially, base cuneate, margin apiculate-denticulate or serrulate, apex acuminate; upper leaves smaller. Capitula radiate, numerous, arranged in terminal rather dense compound corymbs; peduncles 1-2 mm, fulvous pubescent, 1- or 2-bracteate and/or bracteolate; bract and bracteoles linear. Involucres cylindric, ca. 4 × 1.5-2 mm, calyculate; bracts of calyculus several, linear, 2.5-3.5 mm; phyllaries 5, linear, ca. 1.5 mm wide, sparsely puberulent, margin scarious, apically obtuse to acute, dark colored and puberulent. Ray florets 2 or 3; corolla tube ca. 2.5 mm; lamina yellow, linear, 8.5-10 × ca. 1.5 mm, 2- or 3-denticulate, 4-veined; style long exserted. Disk florets 3; corolla yellow, ca. 8 mm, with 2-2.5 mm tube and funnelform limb; lobes linear, 2.5-3 mm, apically acute. Anthers ca. 3.5 mm; anther tails 0.5-0.8 × as long as antheropodia; appendages ovate-lanceolate; antheropodia robust, basally slightly dilated. Style branches ca. 1.5 mm, fringed with short papillae, terminal tuft not differentiated. Achenes ca. 2 mm, glabrous. Pappus straw-colored, ca. 7 mm. Fl. Aug-Sep.

Thicket margins; 2100-2700 m. Yunnan (Longchuan Jiang-Nu Jiang divide) [Myanmar].

Synotis calocephala differs from S. acuminata by its thinner textured, relatively broader, and less deeply denticulate leaves and its conspicuously radiate capitula with 5 phyllaries, 2 or 3 ray florets, and 8-10 mm long ray floret laminae.