秋英 qiu ying

Plants 30-200 cm tall, glabrous or sparsely puberulent, sometimes scabridulous. Leaves sessile or with petioles up to 1 cm; blade 6-11 cm, ultimate lobes to 1.5 mm wide, margin entire, apex acute. Capitula solitary, 3-6 cm in diam.; peduncles 10-20 cm; calycular bracts spreading, linear to lanceolate, 6-13 mm, apices acuminate; involucre 7-15 mm in diam.; phyllaries erect, lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, 7-13 mm, apices rounded or obtuse. Ray corollas white, pink, or purplish, lamina obovate to oblanceolate, 15-50 mm, apices ± truncate, dentate. Disk corollas 5-7 mm. Achenes 7-16 mm, glabrous, papillose; pappus absent, or of 2 or 3 ascending to erect awns 1-3 mm. Fl. Jun-Aug. 2n = 24.

Widely introduced in China [native to Mexico and SW United States].

A favorite garden plant, this species has escaped and naturalized widely in warm climates almost worldwide.