紫叶垂头菊 zi ye chui tou ju

Stems 1 or 2, erect, 7-15 cm tall, 1.5-2 mm in diam. at base, proximally glabrous, distally purplish red, white arachnoid-puberulent. Basal leaves petiolate; petiole purple, 2-6.5 cm, glabrous or sparsely white arachnoid-puberulent; leaf blade abaxially purple, oblong, broadly oblong, or ovate-oblong, 3.7-7.5 × 1.5-5.5 cm, abaxially shortly pilose, adaxially glabrous, pinnate veins conspicuous abaxially, base broadly cuneate or rarely truncate, margin denticulate, apex rounded. Stem leaves bracteal, ovate or oblong to linear, 1-3 cm, base sheathed. Capitulum solitary, nodding. Involucre hemispheric, 1-1.4 × 1.5-2 cm, outside black pilose; phyllaries 10-12, in 2 rows, 2-4 mm wide, apex acuminate, white ciliate; outer phyllaries lanceolate; inner phyllaries oblong, margin broadly membranous. Ray florets yellow; lamina oblong, 1.5-2 cm × 3-5 mm, apex obtuse, denticulate. Tubular florets numerous, yellow, ca. 6 mm; tube ca. 2 mm. Pappus white, as long as tubular corolla. Fl. Jul.

Gravelly areas on mountains; 3600-4900 m. S Xizang [Nepal].