深裂刺头菊 shen lie ci tou ju

Arctium dissectum (Karelin & Kirilov) Kuntze.

Herbs 25-35 cm tall, biennial. Stems erect, apically branched, densely cobwebby; wings 2-4(-10) mm wide, with spiny teeth. Leaves ± leathery, abaxially grayish white and densely cobwebby-felted, adaxially grayish green and densely cobwebby. Basal and lower cauline leaves shortly petiolate, bipinnatisect. Middle cauline leaves sessile, bipinnatisect or pinnatisect; uppermost cauline leaves narrowly lanceolate, less divided. Capitula broadly ovoid. Involucre 1.2-1.5 cm in diam. Outer and middle phyllaries falcately recurved in distal half, apex narrowed into a spine to 3 mm; inner phyllaries narrowly lanceolate, margin ciliate, apex long acuminate. Corolla yellow. Achene ca. 5 × 1.5-2 mm, 4-ribbed, ribs apically prolonged into a tooth. Fl. and fr. May-Aug.

Sandy areas adjacent to sand dunes. NW Xinjiang [Kazakhstan].

No material of Cousinia dissecta was seen by the present authors. The description here is based on the original publication and the treatments by Tscherneva (Fl. URSS 27: 160. 1962) and G. M. Shen (Fl. Xinjiang. 5: 300. 1999).