小花矢车菊 xiao hua shi che ju

Centaurea virgata var. squarrosa Boissier, Fl. Orient. 3: 651. 1875, based on C. squarrosa Willdenow, Sp. Pl. 3: 2319. 1803, not Roth (1800).

Herbs 25-70 cm tall, perennial. Stems few to several, erect, branched from above middle; branches spreading, rigid; stem and branches grayish green, arachnoid tomentose. Leaves densely minutely gland-dotted, arachnoid tomentose. Basal and lower stem leaves petiolate; petiole 3-7 cm; leaf blade elliptic in outline, 5-8 × 2-4 cm, pinnatipartite to bipinnatipartite; ultimate segments linear to narrowly elliptic, 0.7-3 mm wide. Middle stem leaves sessile, pinnatipartite. Upper leaves diminished, undivided. Capitula many, laxly and broadly paniculate, solitary or in pairs, easily detaching from peduncle after anthesis. Involucre ovoid, ellipsoid-ovoid, or cylindric, 2.5-3.5 mm in diam. Phyllaries in ca. 6 rows; outer and middle phyllaries elliptic, narrowly elliptic, or linear-lanceolate, 2-8 × 1-1.8 mm, puberulent; appendage of outer and middle phyllaries straw-colored or with a purple tinge, with 4-8 pectinately arranged 1-1.8 mm spinules on each side ending in a 1-2 mm arcuate-recurved spine; inner phyllaries linear-lanceolate, ca. 8 × 1.5 mm; appendage of inner phyllaries triangular to subulate, scarious. Sterile florets few, as long as bisexual ones, not or scarcely radiant; bisexual florets 3-7. Corolla purple to pink. Achene grayish, ovoid, 3-3.5 mm, pilose to subglabrous, apex with an almost smooth inconspicuous rim. Outer pappus elements in few rows, longest ca. 2 mm, scabridulous; inner pappus elements ca. 0.7 mm. Fl. and fr. Jun-Sep. 2n = 36.

Mountain slopes, wastelands; 500-1500 m. Xinjiang (Tian Shan) [Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan; SW Asia, Europe].