雨农蒲儿根 yu nong pu er gen

Senecio chienii Handel-Mazzetti, Oesterr. Bot. Z. 88: 311. 1939; S. homogyniphyllus Cummins var. subumbellatus C. C. Chang.

Herbs, scapigerous. Rhizomes ca. 4 mm in diam., villous with long fulvous hairs and clad at nodes with persistent brownish petiole bases. Stems solitary or paired, erect, scapiform, 20-30 cm tall, simple, fulvous villous or ± glabrescent. Leaves few to several, radical, rosulate, long petiolate; petiole 10-15 cm, rather stout, fulvous villous, ± glabrescent; blade abaxially pale green or purplish, adaxially green or dark green, ovate or broadly ovate, 4-9 × 4.5-9.5 cm, submembranous, abaxially sparsely villous and glabrescent, adaxially sparsely fulvous pilose, basally palmately 5-7-veined, veins prominent, base cordate, margin repand or sinuate-dentate with broadly deltoid callose-apiculate teeth, apex acuminate or shortly caudate, apiculate. Capitula ca. 2.5 cm in diam., 2-9 in terminal subumbelliform corymbs; peduncles 2.5-7 cm, slender, with a basal bract and 1-5 linear bracteoles. Involucres obconic-campanulate, 6-7 × 3.5-5 mm, not calyculate; phyllaries 8-10, lanceolate, 4-5 × 1.5-2 mm, herbaceous, sparsely villous or subglabrous, obscurely 3-veined, apically fulvous ciliate and purplish, acute to obtuse. Receptacle slightly convex, alveolate-ciliate. Ray florets ca. 10, ca. 12 mm; corolla tube 1.5-2 mm; lamina oblong, 8-10 × 2.5-3.5 mm, 4-veined, apically 3-denticulate and obtuse. Disk florets many; corolla yellow, ca. 4 mm, with ca. 1.5 mm tube and broadly campanulate limb; lobes lanceolate, ca. 1.5 mm, apically acute. Anthers oblong, ca. 1.5 mm, appendages ovate-oblong, basally obtuse to rounded. Style branches recurved, ca. 0.7 mm. Achenes obovoid-cylindric, ca. 2.7 mm, smooth, glabrous. Pappus absent or rarely of several ca. 1.5 mm hairs, soon deciduous. Fl. Apr-Jul, fr. May-Aug. 2n = 60*.

● Woods, streamsides, grasslands, damp places; 800-2800 m. W Sichuan.

The record of the occurrence of Sinosenecio chienii in Lijiang, NW Yunnan, is a mistake resulting from the incorrect note of the collecting locality of a specimen.

Sinosenecio chienii is closely related to S. homogyniphyllus, and they are largely sympatric in geographical range. It differs from S. homogyniphyllus mainly by its larger, ovate or broadly ovate leaves, acuminate or shortly caudate at the apex and with repand or sinuate-dentate margin. Although both species are readily distinguishable from each other as to populations from Emei, Hongya, and Tianquan, their delimitation becomes rather obscure in other sites, e.g., Baoxing, Leibo, Mabian, and Shifang. Further studies are needed to clarify their relationships.