西北风毛菊 xi bei feng mao ju

Saussurea petrovii var. latifolia H. C. Fu.

Herbs 5-30 cm tall, perennial. Roots woody, fibrous. Caudex branched, covered with remains of leaf sheaths. Stem 1.5-2 mm in diam., erect, simple or apically branched. Lower and middle stem leaves sessile, linear, linear-oblong, or oblong, 2-11 × 0.1-0.4 cm, abaxially grayish white and densely tomentose, adaxially green and glabrous, base attenuate, margin revolute and entire or with 1-5 pairs of remote teeth, apex acute to acuminate. Upper stem leaves narrowly linear, 1-4 × ca. 0.1 cm. Capitula 2-6, in a corymbiform synflorescence, pedunculate. Involucre cylindric, 5-8 mm in diam. Phyllaries in 4 or 5 rows, greenish yellow to straw-colored, apically purple, sparsely arachnoid, gland-dotted, apex shortly acuminate; outer phyllaries ovate, 2-3 × 1-2 mm; middle phyllaries oblong, 3-7 × 1-2 mm; inner phyllaries narrowly elliptic to linear, 7-9 × 1-2 mm. Receptacle with bristles. Corolla purple, (0.8-)1-1.4 cm, minutely gland-dotted, tube 5-7 mm, limb 5-7 mm, lobes 3-3.5 mm. Achene brown, cylindric, 3-4 mm, obtusely 4-angled, glabrous. Pappus white; outer bristles 2-3 mm, scabrid; inner bristles (0.7-)0.9-1.1 cm. Fl. and fr. Jun-Sep.

● Mountain slopes; 1700-2500 m. Gansu, Nei Mongol, Ningxia.

Saussurea cana and S. petrovii are very closely related and may even be conspecific. Further studies are needed to clarify if the characters that distinguish S. petrovii fall within the variation range of S. cana.