狗舌草紫菀 gou she cao zi wan

Aster senecioides var. latisquamus Y. Ling.

Herbs, perennial, 16-50 cm tall; rhizomes robust. Stems erect, often single, slender to robust, densely hirsute-villous, densely strigillose below capitula. Leaves: both surfaces densely strigose, abaxial veins densely strigose-villous, thick, midvein slightly prominent, lateral veins 4-6 pairs; basal and lower cauline leaves similar, present at anthesis; basal leaves long winged petiolate; lower cauline leaves shortly winged petiolate; blade elliptic or oblong-spatulate, 4-18 × 1.4-4 cm, base attenuate, margin coarsely serrate, apex obtuse or rounded; middle and upper cauline leaves sessile, oblong or lanceolate, 2-6 × 0.3-2 cm, base attenuate or rounded-subclasping, margin sparsely serrate or entire, apex acute to rounded. Capitula 2-6(-8) in corymbiform synflorescences, 2-3 cm in diam.; peduncles 1.5-7 cm; bracts linear to linear-lanceolate. Involucres hemispheric, 1-1.2 × 1-1.5 cm; phyllaries 3-seriate, linear to obovate-oblong, apex obtuse or acute to acuminate; outer phyllaries 7-10 mm, margin broadly scarious, sparsely strigose-villous; inner phyllaries 10-11 × 2-3.5 mm, glabrous or strigose-villous on midvein and at tip, margin scarious, erose or not. Ray florets 16-20, purplish, tube 2-3.7 mm, hairy, lamina 12-14 × 2-4 mm; disk florets yellow-green, 5-6 mm, tube 1.2-2.5 mm, sparsely hairy, limb funnelform, lobes ovate, ca. 1 mm. Achenes oblanceolate, ± compressed, 3-3.5 × ca. 1 mm, strigose, 5-ribbed. Pappus yellowish, 3-seriate, stout, outer bristles ca. 1.2 mm; inner bristles ca. 4.2 mm, acute; innermost bristles ca. 5.5 mm, clavate. Fl. Aug-Sep, fr. Sep-Oct.

● Alpine valleys, coniferous forests, rocky slopes; 2000-3000 m. SW Sichuan, N and NW Yunnan.

Two varieties of Aster senecioides have been recognized. However, upon examination of specimens, the width of the scarious phyllary margin is identical, and phyllary width and ray floret lamina width overlap significantly. Varieties would need a morphometric study before they can be accepted.