阿尔泰雪莲 a er tai xue lian

Herbs 40-65 cm tall, perennial or biennial. Stem solitary, 2.5-3 cm in diam., erect, simple, hollow, densely leafy, covered at base with band-shaped remains of petioles. Rosette and lower stem leaves petiolate; leaf blade elliptic to narrowly elliptic-obovate, 6-16 × 3-4 cm, both surfaces green, scabrous, glandular hairy, and sparsely pilose, margin sinuate-dentate to serrate, apex acute. Middle and upper stem leaves sessile, narrowly ovate, elliptic, or obovate, 8-17 × 2-5.5 cm, base auriculate. Uppermost stem leaves ovate to narrowly triangular-ovate, 4-12 × 1.5-6.5 cm, membranous, stellately surrounding synflorescence, both surfaces yellowish, margin dentate. Capitula 20-30, in a hemispheric synflorescence 12-15 cm in diam., sessile or shortly pedunculate. Involucre campanulate, 2-3 cm in diam. Phyllaries in 3-5 rows, linear-subulate, brown with dark margin, sericeous-villous, apex acuminate; outer phyllaries 11-18(-23) × 1-2.5 mm; middle and inner phyllaries 14-18 × 1.4-1.8 mm. Receptacle naked or shortly papillose. Corolla purple, 1.7-1.9 cm, tube 8.5-9.5 mm, limb 8.5-9 mm, lobes 4.2-4.6 mm. Achene straw-colored with blackish spots, cylindric, 5-6.7 mm, obtusely 5-ribbed. Pappus straw-colored; outer bristles 1-4 mm; inner bristles 1.1-1.4 cm. Fl. Jul-Aug, fr. Aug-Oct. 2n = 32.

N Xinjiang (Altay Shan) [Mongolia, Russia (Siberia)].

The whole plant of Saussurea orgaadayi is used medicinally.

See also the discussion under Saussurea involucrata.