Takeikadzuchia Kitagawa & Kitamura.

Herbs, perennial. Leaves linear to elliptic, pinnately divided, with spiny teeth or segments. Capitula few to many, solitary or glomerate. Involucre campanulate, semiglobose, or ovoid. Phyllaries rigid, leathery, straight or apically recurved. Receptacle flat, with dense long bristles. Corolla purple to blue. Stamen filaments glabrous or subglabrous; anther with long ± entire basal appendages. Style branches slender, apex obtuse to rounded. Achene narrowly ellipsoid to obovoid, laterally compressed, often with 12-15 ribs but otherwise smooth; apical rim forming a crenulate crown; apical plate with central pyramidal body of sclerenchyma crowned by a stout disk. Pappus bristles 3-5 rows, barbellate, outer ones somewhat shorter than inner.

About 16 species: mostly in C Asia; six species (two endemic) in China.

(Authors: Shi Zhu (石铸 Shih Chu); Werner Greuter)