雷山假福王草 lei shan jia fu wang cao

Herbs 0.8-2 m tall, annual. Stem glabrous. Basal leaves unknown. Lower and middle stem leaves with petiole 2.5-10 cm, ± unwinged; leaf blade narrowly elliptic, 12-24 × 8.5-13 cm, lyrately pinnatipartite or unequally pinnatipartite, margin sinuate and mucronulate-dentate; lateral lobes 3 or 4 pairs, opposite or alternate, elliptic, triangular, or irregularly rhombic, apex obtuse to rounded; terminal lobe irregularly rhombic, lanceolate, or narrowly triangular. Upper stem leaves shortly petiolate; leaf blade linear-elliptic, ca. 10 × 1.3 cm, base cuneate, apex acuminate, otherwise similar to middle stem leaves. Synflorescence narrowly paniculiform, with many capitula. Capitula with 7 or 8 florets. Involucre ca. 9 × 2 mm. Outer phyllaries triangular-ovate to lanceolate, largest ca. 3 × 1 mm, apex acute; inner phyllaries 5, apex obtuse. Florets bluish purple. Achene ca. 4 mm, attenuate into an almost beaked apex. Pappus ca. 5 mm. Fl. and fr. May-Jul.

● Grasslands on mountain slopes, forests; 600-1200 m. Guangxi, Guizhou (Leishan), Hunan, Jiangsu, Sichuan.

Paraprenanthes heptantha shows affinities to P. diversifolia, and future studies should assess the delimitation between both species.