天山矢车菊 tian shan shi che ju

Centaurea kasakorum Iljin, Bot. Mater. Gerb. Bot. Inst. Komarova Akad. Nauk S.S.S.R. 7: 66. 1937.

Herbs ca. 30 cm tall. Stem usually solitary, erect, apically few branched or unbranched. Leaves green or grayish green. Basal leaves petiolate; petiole to 13 cm; leaf blade elliptic to oblanceolate, 14-22 × 5-8 cm, pinnatisect to pinnate; lateral segments 6-12 pairs, oblong to narrowly elliptic, sometimes with 1 or 2 accessory segments near base; terminal segment elliptic, equal to lateral segments or smaller. Stem leaves several, sessile or shortly petiolate, similar to basal leaves but smaller. Capitula few to several, rarely 1. Involucre ovoid to campanulate, ca. 1.5 cm in diam. Phyllaries in 5 or 6 rows, apex obtuse to rounded; middle phyllaries elliptic to ovate-elliptic, 7-12 × ca. 5 mm, unappendaged, margin ca. 1 mm wide, hyaline, and often lacerate; inner phyllaries elliptic-lanceolate to lanceolate, ca. 15 × 3 mm, apical appendage white, hyaline, and scarious. Achene 6-8 mm. Outer pappus elements to 7 mm; inner pappus elements short. Fl. and fr. May-Aug.

Mountain slopes; ca. 2300 m. Xinjiang (Xinyuan) [Kazakhstan, Russia].