针裂叶绢蒿 zhen lie ye juan hao

Artemisia sublessingiana Krascheninnikov ex Poljakov, Bot. Mater. Gerb. Bot. Inst. Komarova Akad. Nauk S.S.S.R. 16: 395-396. 1954; A. gorjaevii Poljakov; A. polysthicha Poljakov; A. sublessingiana var. gorjaevii (Poljakov) Poljakov; A. sublessingiana var. polysthicha (Poljakov) Poljakov.

Subshrubs, 30-45 cm tall, gray arachnoid puberulent; non-flowering stems developing fibrous brownish bark. Lowermost leaves: petiole 1-2(-2.5) cm; leaf blade oblong-ovate or ovate, 3-4 × 1-2 cm, 2-pinnatisect; segments 3 or 4(or 5) pairs; lobules narrowly linear, 5-12 × 0.3-0.5 mm, subacuminate. Middle stem and uppermost leaves sessile, 1(or 2)-pinnatisect with palmatisect, sometimes pinnatisect, auricles; leaflike bracts pinnatisect or 3- or 5-lobed, or entire. Capitula sessile, in narrow or somewhat broad and elongated panicles. Involucre cylindric-ovoid or ellipsoid-ovoid, 3-4 × 1-2 mm; phyllaries gray tomentose, later glabrescent. Florets 2-7(-8). Achenes ovoid or obovoid. Fl. and fr. Aug-Oct.

Rocky slopes, Gobi Desert, dry valleys, semidesert steppes, dunes; 800-1300 m. N Xinjiang [Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia].

Poljakov (Fl. URSS 26: 596-597. 1961) recognized two further varieties of Artemisia sublessingiana: var. gorjaevii, with slender erect stems usually 20-30 cm tall and short narrowly linear leaf lobes, and var. polysthicha, with lower stem leaves not more than 2 cm and often 3 stigmatic lobes.

"Artemisia maritima Linnaeus [var.] sublessingiana" (Keller, Bot.-Geogr. Issledov. Zaisansk. Semipalatinsk. Obl. 2: 89. 1912) belongs here but is a nomen nudum and was therefore not validly published (Vienna Code, Art. 32.1(d)).