3. Centaurea pulchella Ledebour, Icon. Pl. 1: 22. 1829.
琉苞菊 liu bao ju
Hyalea pulchella (Ledebour) K. Koch.
Herbs (10-)20-70 cm tall, annual. Stem erect, branched, pubescent near base; branches ivory-white or straw-colored, ascending, slender, glabrous. Leaves arachnoid, glabrescent. Basal leaves withered at anthesis, shortly petiolate; leaf blade narrowly elliptic-lanceolate, margin repandly denticulate and sometimes pinnatilobed near base. Lower and middle stem leaves sessile, lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, 2-3 × 0.2-0.3 cm, base cuneate-attenuate, margin entire or minutely serrulate, apex acute. Upper stem leaves similar to lower and middle stem leaves, decreasing in size upward. Capitula many, in a corymbose to paniculate synflorescence. Involucre narrowly ellipsoid to obconic, 4-6 mm in diam. Phyllaries in ca. 6 rows, glabrous, with distinct blackish longitudinal line; outer and middle phyllaries ovate to narrowly ovate, 1-5 × 0.7-1.5 mm excluding appendage; appendage of outer and middle phyllaries with a median brown stripe, spoon-shaped, suborbicular, or ovate, hyaline, decurrent on margin of phyllary, margin entire or slightly lacerate, almost completely concealing herbaceous part of phyllaries; inner phyllaries linear-lanceolate to linear, ca. 10 × 1.5 mm excluding appendage. Sterile florets not radiant. Corolla pink or white, ca. 1 cm, of even thickness. Achene obovoid, ca. 3 mm, sparsely pilose to glabrescent, with a shallowly denticulate rim. Outer pappus elements white, to 5 mm, scabridulous; inner pappus elements scalelike, 1-1.5 mm, ciliate and with a tuft of hairs at apex. Fl. and fr. Jun-Sep.
Mountain slopes, sandy areas, deserts; 700-2400 m. N Xinjiang [Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan; SW Asia].
