无舌狗娃花 wu she gou wa hua

Basionym: Heteropappus eligulatus Y. Ling ex Y. L. Chen, S. Yun Liang & K. Y. Pan, Acta Phytotax. Sin. 19: 85. 1981.

Herbs, perennial, 5-15 cm tall; caudex short, from woody taproot. Stems procumbent to ascending, many branched, rigid, green or purple tinged, usually branched from base, white strigose. Leaves sessile, linear, 0.4-2 × 0.1-0.2(-0.4) cm, strigose, midvein slightly raised abaxially, margin entire, strigose, apex obtuse, mucronulate; uppermost leaves small. Capitula discoid, terminal, solitary, 8-13 mm in diam.; phyllaries 2- or 3-seriate, green or purple tinged, lanceolate, 5.5-6.5 × 1.2-2 mm, strigose, margin scarious, apex acuminate. Ray florets absent; disk florets yellow, 4.3-5 mm, tube 1-1.3 mm, limb funnelform, glabrous, lobes triangular to lanceolate, unequal, 0.8-1.2 mm, hairy. Achenes pale yellow-brown, obovoid, compressed, ca. 2 × 1 mm, sericeous, margin 2-ribbed. Pappus pale yellow-brown, 2-seriate, of 35-45 unequal bristles 3-3.5 mm. Fl. and fr. Jul-Sep.

● Stony grounds; 3200-3900 m. Xizang.

Aster eligulatus is similar to Heteropappus holohermaphroditus Grierson, described from India, Kashmir, and Pakistan, but differs in having stems branched from the base and capitula terminal, solitary. The differences noted above, however, might stem from phenotypic plasticity: the plants from south of the Himalaya being taller (15-45 cm) and the capitula numerous, borne at the ends of long peduncles. More material and a morphometric study are needed to resolve this issue.