碱蒿 jian hao

Absinthium divaricatum Fischer ex Besser; Artemisia anethifolia var. erectiflora Candolle; A. anethifolia f. gracilis Pampanini; A. anethifolia var. multicaulis (Ledebour) Candolle; A. anethifolia f. shansiensis Pampanini; A. anethifolia var. stelleriana Candolle; A. multicaulis Ledebour.

Herbs, annual or biennial, 20-55 cm tall, stems sometimes very slender; all parts pubescent, often glabrescent. Basal leaves elliptic or ovate-elliptic in outline, 3-4.5 × 1.5-2.5(-3) cm, 2- or 3-pinnatisect; segments 3 or 4 pairs, distal lateral lobes lobulate; lobules filiform, 6-12 × 0.5-1.5 mm. Uppermost leaves and leaflike bracts 3-5-lobed or entire. Synflorescence a broad panicle with flowering shoots from most upper nodes. Capitula closely to widely spaced, pedunculate, often bracteolate. Involucre hemispheric or broadly ovoid, wider than long, 2-3(-4) mm in diam.; phyllaries ± densely puberulent, sometimes ± glabrescent; receptacle convex, white pubescent. Marginal female florets 3-6. Disk florets 18-28, bisexual; corolla limb yellow or red. Achenes ellipsoid or obovoid. Fl. and fr. Aug-Oct.

Slopes, dry canyons, saline soils, saline steppes, wastelands, stable dunes, Hippophae thickets; 800-2500 m. Gansu, Hebei, W Heilongjiang, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, N Shanxi, Xinjiang [Mongolia, Russia].

This species is used as herbage for feeding livestock.