山黄菊 shan huang ju

Inula yunnanensis J. Anthony; Verbesina chinensis Linnaeus.

Herbs, annual. Rhizome stout, 5-12 mm in diam. Stems erect, 40-100 cm tall, 2-4(-6) mm in diam., simple or rarely caespitose, with slender stripes, subwoody at base, densely rusty pubescent or sparsely pubescent in lower part during anthesis. Cauline leaves ovate-lanceolate or narrowly oblong, 3-6 × 1-2 cm, papery, both surfaces slightly pubescent, more densely so along veins, base truncate or broadly cuneate, margin obtusely serrate, apex obtuse. Capitula solitary or several in terminal corymbs; peduncles densely pubescent. Involucre hemispheric, 6-10 mm; phyllaries in 3 series, narrowly lanceolate or broadly linear, 3-5 × ca. 1.5 mm, dorsally densely pubescent, margin membranous, apex obtuse. Paleae keeled, membranous, ca. 5 mm. Marginal florets female; corolla yellow; lamina obtriangular, ca. 6.5 × 2 mm, apex truncate, 3-dentate. Disk florets bisexual; corolla tubular, ca. 3 mm, with short triangular lobes. Achenes columnar, sparsely pubescent, apex truncate, slightly narrower to base, ca. 2 mm in female florets and ca. 1.5 mm in bisexual florets, with 4 ribs. Pappus grayish white, chaffy, of 4 or 5 bristles. Fl. Aug-Nov.

Grassy slopes, waste fields, forest margins; below 2400 m. S Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Jiangxi, S Sichuan, Yunnan [India, Myanmar, N Thailand; tropical Africa, Madagascar].

In the protologue of Anisopappus chinensis, Hooker and Arnott referred to "Verbesina chinensis Linn. ?" The expression of doubt in this citation prevented A. chinensis from being validly published as a new combination based on V. chinensis. The latter name was subsequently recognized as a heterotypic synonym of A. chinensis.