湖北蟹甲草 hu bei xie jia cao

Herbs, perennial, to 1 m tall. Rhizomes short, with numerous elongate fibrous roots. Stem solitary, erect, striate, glabrous. Leaves petiolate; petiole 2.5-9.5 cm, glabrous; blade green on both surfaces, orbicular-ovate, 16-27 × 15-35 cm, thinly papery, palmately and deeply (5 or)6-9-lobed; lobes lanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate, both surfaces glabrous, basally 3- or 4-veined, lateral veins furcate near base, veins raised abaxially, impressed adaxially, base subcordate, margin undulately finely toothed, apex acuminate; central lobe larger, lateral lobes often 1-lobulate, lobule obliquely triangular; upper leaves gradually smaller, ovate, usually 5-lobed, with shorter petioles; uppermost leaves shortly petiolate, oblong, 13-15 cm × 8-10 mm, 3-lobed; lobe margin entire, apex acuminate. Capitula numerous, discoid, arranged in panicles ca. 20 cm; peduncles 4-6 mm, slender; rachis shortly hairy, base with 2 or 3 subulate bractlets. Involucres cylindric, 10-12 × ca. 3 mm; phyllaries 5, linear, 7-8 × ca. 1 mm, outer surface glabrous, margin membranous, apex acute. Florets bisexual, 5; corolla tube ca. 4 mm; limb broadly tubular, ca. 4 mm; lobes 5, lanceolate, ca. 1 mm. Anthers exserted from corolla, basally shortly caudate. Style branches excurved, penicillate, papillose, apically truncate. Achenes brown, cylindric, ca. 3 mm, glabrous, longitudinally ribbed. Pappus white, ca. 8 mm.

● Hubei (?Fangxian).

Parasenecio dissectus is known only from the type gathering, A. Henry 6487, which was made in 1885-1888 in Hubei, possibly in Fangxian. It is similar to P. sinicus but differs in having leaves larger, phyllaries and florets 5, achenes shorter, and pappus white.