岩生蒲儿根 yan sheng pu er gen

Herbs, scapigerous or subscapigerous. Rhizomes short, slender, clad in persistent black-brown petiole bases. Stems solitary, erect, 3-12 cm, simple, glabrous or subglabrous. Radical leaves several, rosulate, long petiolate; petiole slender, densely yellow lanate, basally slightly expanded, pilose at upper part; blade abaxially purplish, adaxially green, reniform or suborbicular, 0.5-1 × 1-1.5 cm, subleathery, both surfaces glabrous or sometimes white tomentose abaxially and later glabrescent, inconspicuously palmately 5-veined, base cordate or rarely subtruncate, margin reflexed when dry, palmately regularly 5(-7)-lobed; lobes ovate-triangular, apex acute, mucronulate. Stem leaves 1-3, lower leaves similar to radical leaves but smaller, shortly petiolate, 3-5-lobed; uppermost ones sessile, oblanceolate or spatulate, or sometimes bract-shaped, linear, 2-3 mm. Capitula solitary, sometimes 2, 10-15 mm in diam. Involucres broadly campanulate, ca. 5 × 7-8 mm, not calyculate; phyllaries 11-13, oblong-lanceolate, ca. 1 mm wide, herbaceous, obscurely 3-veined, glabrous, margin narrowly scarious, apically acute or rather acute. Ray florets 11-13; corolla tube ca. 2 mm; lamina yellow, oblong, 5-6 × ca. 1.5 mm, 5-veined, apically 3-denticulate. Disk florets many; corolla yellow, 3-3.5 mm, with ca. 1 mm tube and campanulate limb; lobes ovate-lanceolate, apically acute. Anthers oblong, basally obtuse. Style branches recurved. Achenes cylindric, ca. 1 mm, glabrous, papillate. Pappus white, ca. 2 mm. Fl. May-Jun, fr. Jun-Jul. 2n = 48*.

● Mountain summits, on rocks, among grasses; 1200-1700 m. Guangdong (Ruyuan), Hunan (Lanshan, Yizhang).

Sinosenecio saxatilis resembles S. wuyiensis in posture, plant size, achene morphology, and habitat preference, but it differs in its leaf blade reniform or suborbicular, regularly 5-7-palmatilobed, lobes ovate-triangular, sometimes abaxially white tomentose and later glabrescent. These two species, together with S. guangxiensis, S. jiuhuashanicus, and S. latouchei, all have smaller chromosomes and papillate achenes and most likely constitute a very natural group of species.