红座蒲公英 hong zuo pu gong ying

Herbs to 25 cm tall, medium-sized. Petiole purplish, winged in most leaves; leaf blade deep green, ± broadly oblanceolate, 11-18 × 3-4 cm, sparsely arachnoid, pinnatisect, midvein purplish and arachnoid; lateral lobes 4-6, ± narrowly triangular to narrowly deltoid, usually patent, sometimes subrecurved, proximal margin ± straight and usually entire or rarely denticulate, distal margin usually ± straight or convex and entire or ± denticulate, apex acute; interlobes short, broad, margin denticulate or entire; terminal lobe triangular to helmet-shaped, margin usually entire or with a single incision, apex subacute. Scape brownish purple, overtopping leaves, arachnoid. Capitulum ca. 5 cm wide. Involucre 1.2-1.5 cm wide, base ± rounded. Outer phyllaries 13-16, lanceolate to broadly lanceolate, 13-14 × 2-3 mm, recurved to reflexed, abaxially dark green, adaxially suffused brownish purple, margin ± glabrous, apex flat; inner phyllaries 1.5-1.8 cm, neighboring pairs often fused and then very broad. Ligules deep yellow; outer ligules flat, outside striped grayish green. Stigmas yellowish green. Anthers polliniferous; pollen grains irregular in size. Achene grayish straw-colored brown, 3.2-3.5 mm; body ± densely spinulose above, ± abruptly narrowing into a ± conic 0.5-0.6 mm cone, spinules thin and acute; beak 9.5-10.5 mm. Pappus ± white, ca. 7 mm. Fl. late spring. 2n = 24.

Mountain grasslands, along paths; 3600-3700 m. Naturalized in Yunnan [native to (or at least described from) Europe].