新疆风毛菊 xin jiang feng mao ju

Herbs, perennial. Stem apically branched, slightly winged. Basal leaves petiolate; leaf blade narrowly ovate-elliptic, to 7 × 2-3 cm, both surfaces green and glabrous, base cuneate, margin sinuate-dentate or runcinate and scabrous, apex acute. Stem leaves narrower than basal leaves, base decurrent to stem wing, margin subentire. Capitula numerous, at ends of flexuous or apically nodding branches, in an ample corymbiform synflorescence, pedunculate, with 19-20 florets. Involucre obconic, ca. 1 cm in diam. Phyllaries in 5 or 6 rows, arachnoid, glabrescent, apex acute and mucronate; outer phyllaries ovate; middle phyllaries narrowly ovate-oblong; inner phyllaries sublinear. Receptacle bristles to 8 mm. Corolla rose-pink, ca. 1.3 cm, tube 6-7 mm, limb 6-7 mm. Achene cylindric to oblong, ribbed, apex with a short crown. Pappus in 2 rows; outer bristles short, scabrid; inner bristles ca. 4 × as long as outer ones. Fl. and fr. Aug-Sep.

Scree slopes; 2700-2900 m. Xinjiang (Tian Shan) [Kyrgyzstan].

No specimens of Saussurea alberti from China were seen by the present authors. This description is based on an image of the cultivated type specimen (LE), on the original description, and on the account by Lipschitz (Fl. URSS 27: 426. 1962).