绒缨菊 rong ying ju

Cacalia coccinea Sims, Bot. Mag. 16: t. 564. 1802; C. sagittata Willdenow (1803), not Vahl (1794); Emilia sagittata Candolle var. lutea L. H. Bailey.

Herbs, annual. Stems erect, 40-70(-100) cm tall, glabrous or hispidulous. Basal and lower leaves shortly petiolate; blade oblong, obovate, or subspatulate, 5-7 × 2-2.5 cm, both surfaces puberulent, veins convex abaxially and conspicuously concave adaxially, base gradually attenuate, winged and semiamplexicaul, margin entire or repand-denticulate, apex obtuse. Median stem leaves sessile, oblong or ovate-oblong, large, basally hastate and amplexicaul. Upper leaves smaller, lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, basally auriculate and amplexicaul, apically acute. Capitula several in terminal corymb, 10-15 mm; peduncles 10-30 mm, not bracteate. Involucres urceolate or top-shaped, 10-12 × 9-12 mm, without bracts at base; phyllaries distinctly shorter than florets, 10-13, linear-lanceolate, glabrous, margin narrowly scarious, apically acuminate. Florets numerous, ca. 50; corolla scarlet, rarely yellow, tube slender; lobes 5, lanceolate, 1.6-2.2 mm. Achenes cylindric, ca. 3 mm, puberulent, 5-ribbed. Pappus white, ca. 4 mm. Fl. Jul-Nov. 2n = 10, 20.

Often cultivated as an ornamental plant in gardens in China [native to Africa; cultivated worldwide].