Aster brachyphyllus C. C. Chang (1935), not (Sonder) F. Mueller (1865).

Herbs, perennial, 30-55 cm tall; rhizomes long, slender. Stems erect, simple, shortly branched in upper part, finely striate, shiny, resinous, leafy, sparsely to densely villosulous to strigillose, sparsely or densely minutely stipitate glandular. Leaves cauline, slightly reduced upward, abaxially pale green, glabrous, veins sparsely strigillose, minutely stipitate glandular in pits, adaxially green, scabridulous, sparsely minutely stipitate glandular on veins, ± resinous, margin serrate to remotely serrate, ciliate, midvein prominent abaxially, sometimes 3-veined, reticulate venation prominent, apex acuminate to falcate-acuminate, mucronate; lowest leaves withered by anthesis, shortly winged petiolate; blade obovate to oblanceolate, 0.7-9 cm, base tapering; lower to upper leaves shortly petiolate (petiole to 0.3 cm); blade broadly to narrowly lanceolate, sometimes falcate, 2.7-7 × 0.6-1.7 cm, base rounded. Capitula 6-20 in terminal or axillary, racemiform synflorescences, sometimes distributed along much of stem, 2.5-3 cm in diam., sessile or peduncles 0.1-20 mm, densely strigillose, minutely stipitate glandular, resinous; bracts linear-oblanceolate, entire, sometimes crowded below head, often grading into phyllaries. Involucres campanulate, 6-8 × 8-12 mm; phyllaries 4- or 5-seriate, unequal, green apically, often squarrose, falcate, 0.7-1 mm wide, margin narrowly scarious, erose, ciliate (outer phyllaries) to densely villous-ciliate (inner phyllaries) distally, midvein more pronounced distally, plus 3-7 dark green striae, apex obtuse to rounded, tip purplish (sometimes whole apex purplish), eciliate, ?minutely stipitate glandular, thinly to thickly resinous; outer phyllaries lanceolate, 1.5-3 mm; middle phyllaries oblong, 4-7 mm, base hardened; inner phyllaries oblong to linear-oblong, 6-9 mm. Ray florets 30-35, white or lavender, tube apex and lamina base sparsely hairy, lamina 6-8 × 1-1.5 mm, eglandular; disk florets yellow, ca. 6 mm, tube base flared, tube apex and limb base hairy, limb campanulate, ca. 4 mm, lobes spreading, triangular, ca. 1 mm, glabrous, eglandular. Achenes oblong, compressed, 2.7-3 mm, strigillose, sparsely stipitate glandular, 2-ribbed. Pappus 4-seriate, white or ± reddish, outermost slender bristles 0.4-0.8 mm; outer bristles few, slender, 2-3.5 mm; inner bristles ca. 5 mm, acute; innermost bristles ca. 5.5 mm, weakly clavate. Fl. Aug-Oct, fr. Oct-Nov.

● Slopes, roadsides, stream banks, rock outcrops; 600-1800 m. S Gansu, W Hubei, S Shaanxi, NW and W Sichuan.