亚东风毛菊 ya dong feng mao ju

Herbs, perennial, caespitose, stemless or shortly stemmed. Stem if present to 1 cm. Basal leaves narrowly oblong-elliptic to narrowly obovate, 3.5-11 × 0.8-2.2 cm, pinnatisect, abaxially gland-dotted and sparsely arachnoid lanate with articulate hairs, adaxially green, gland-dotted, and sparsely pilose with articulate hairs; lateral segments 8-13 pairs, ovate-triangular to obovate, to 1 × 1 cm, margin denticulate, apex mucronulate. Capitulum solitary, in center of leaf rosette or terminal on stem. Involucre campanulate, 0.8-1.6 cm in diam. Phyllaries in ca. 5 rows, apically purplish and villous, glabrescent; outer phyllaries ovate to narrowly triangular-ovate, 13-15 × 3.5-5.5 mm, apically reflexed, apex acuminate; middle phyllaries narrowly ovate-elliptic, 16-18 × 2-2.5 mm, apically reflexed; inner phyllaries ca. 1.5 mm wide, erect. Receptacle bristles 6-9 mm. Corolla purple, 1.4-1.9 cm, with few small capitate hairs, tube 7.5-10 mm, limb 6.5-9 mm, lobes 3.7-4.5 mm. Achene obovoid, smooth, apically with a prominent crown of many narrow scales. Pappus outer bristles 8-11 mm, plumose; inner bristles 1.1-1.3 cm. Fl. and fr. Sep.

Alpine meadows, stony slopes, scree slopes; ca. 4500 m. S Xizang (Yadong) [?Bhutan, India (Sikkim), E Nepal].

No specimens of Saussurea donkiah from China were seen by the present authors, and the description here is based on the protologue, which cites a specimen from S Xizang (Yadong).