白莲蒿 bai lian hao

Artemisia gmelinii Weber ex Stechmann var. biebersteiniana Besser; A. sacrorum f. minor Freyn; A. sacrorum var. minor Ledebour; A. sacrorum var. santolinifolia Pampanini; A. sacrorum f. thomsonii Pampanini; A. sacrorum subf. tripinnata Pampanini; A. stechmanniana var. sibirica Besser; A. santolinifolia (Pampanini) Krascheninnikov; A. turschaninowiana Krasnov.

Subshrubs, (7-)10-40(-80) cm tall, caespitose, with woody basal parts and branches, much branched, densely pubescent, or glabrescent except on leaves. Middle stem leaves: petiole 8-13 mm. Lower and middle stem leaves; leaf blade ovate or triangular-ovate, 2-4 × 1-2 cm, gland-dotted, gray or yellowish arachnoid pubescent, 2-4-pinnatisect; segments 4 or 5 pairs; lobules pectinately linear or linear-lanceolate, usually serrulate, teeth 1-2 × 0.2-0.5 mm. Uppermost leaves 1- or 2-pinnatisect and leaflike bracts divided or entire; bracts lanceolate or linear-lanceolate. Synflorescence a leafy, narrowly conical panicle, 20-40 × 5-12 cm; primary branches ascending, 5-10 cm. Capitula many, shortly pedunculate or ± sessile, nodding, remote or approximate toward branch apices. Involucre globose, 3-5(-6) mm in diam.; outer phyllaries linear-oblong, green, not scarious margined, sparsely arachnoid. Marginal female florets 10-12; corolla slender, glandular, 2-toothed. Disk florets 40-60, glabrous. Achenes brown, oblong, ca. 1 mm. Fl. and fr. Aug-Oct. 2n = 18, 54.

Hills, steppes, semidesert steppes, meadows, rocky slopes, scrub, dry floodlands, wastelands; 1500-4900 m. Gansu, Hubei, W Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, W Sichuan, Xinjiang, Xizang [Kazakhstan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan; E Europe].

Chinese material of Artemisia stechmanniana has been incorrectly named as A. gmelinii.