滇苦菜 dian ku cai

Hypochaeris mairei H. Léveillé.

Herbs 10-40 cm tall, short-lived perennial. Stems few to several, weak, erect, divaricately branched from base, with whitish rigid small 2-hooked hairs, glabrescent or glabrous toward apex. Basal leaves oblanceolate-elliptic, narrowly elliptic, or linear-elliptic, 3-10 × 0.5-2 cm, with short rigid simple and hooked rigid hairs especially on midvein, basally attenuate into a winged petiole-like portion, base cuneate-attenuate, margin sinuate-dentate or entire, apex acute, obtuse, or rounded. Stem leaves few, subbasal, sessile, broadly linear to narrowly elliptic-oblanceolate, small, with sparse simple rigid hairs especially on abaxial midvein, base semiamplexicaul, otherwise like basal leaves. Capitula 1 or 2 per stem. Involucre cylindric to narrowly campanulate, 9-10 mm. Phyllaries arachnoid hairy and with sparse rigid hooked hairs on midvein; outer phyllaries narrowly triangular to lanceolate, apex acute; inner phyllaries linear-lanceolate, apex acute. Florets yellow. Achene reddish brown, narrowly ellipsoid, 4-5 mm, apex contracted into a tiny cuspis. Pappus 6-7 mm. Fl. and fr. Apr-Nov.

● Grasslands on mountain slopes, forest margins, thickets; 1400-3200 m. Xizang, Yunnan.