盘花垂头菊 pan hua chui tou ju

Cremanthodium cuculliferum W. W. Smith; Senecio discoideus (Maximowicz) Franchet.

Stem solitary, erect, 15-30 cm tall, proximally glabrous, distally long white and purplish brown pilose. Basal leaves petiolate; petiole 1-6 cm, glabrous, base sheathed; leaf blade abaxially grayish green, adaxially green or greenish white, ovate-oblong or ovate-lanceolate, 1.5-4 × 0.7-1.5 cm, glabrous, with obscure pinnate veins, base rounded, margin entire or rarely denticulate, apex obtuse. Stem leaves few, proximal leaves sessile, lanceolate, base semiamplexicaul; distal leaves linear. Capitulum solitary, nodding. Involucre hemispheric, 8-10 × 15-25 mm, outside densely long dark brown pilose; phyllaries 8-10, in 2 rows, linear-lanceolate, 1-3 mm wide, apex acuminate or acute. Florets numerous, blackish purple, all tubular, 7-8 mm; tube 2-3 mm. Achenes brown, cylindric, 4-6 mm. Pappus white, as long as tubular corolla. Fl. and fr. Jun-Aug. 2n = 58.

Grassy slopes, canopy gaps in forests, gravelly areas on mountains, swamp meadows; 3000-5000 m. Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan, Xizang [Bhutan, ?India (Sikkim), Nepal].