四川蒲儿根 si chuan pu er gen

Herbs, subscapigerous, with radical and 2 or 3 stem leaves; stolons absent. Rhizomes 6-7 mm in diam. Stems solitary or several, erect, 20-30 cm tall, simple, densely fulvous sericeous at base, sparsely so in upper part. Leaves several, both radical and stem leaves present. Radical leaves 1 or 2, long petiolate; petiole 6-14 cm, pubescent, densely sericeous at base; blade abaxially pale green, adaxially green, cordate or broadly cordate to reniform in outline, 5-9 × 5-10 cm, submembranous, both surfaces pubescent, palmately veined, base deeply cordate to cordate, margin repand or sinuate-dentate with mucronulate teeth, apex acuminate or acute, apiculate. Stem leaves 2 or 3, smaller, with shorter petioles. Capitula solitary or several, 3.5-4 cm in diam.; peduncles 4-8 cm, sparsely fulvous sericeous in lower part, fulvous sericeous in upper part. Involucres obconic-campanulate, 5-8 × 8-12 mm, ecalyculate. Phyllaries 13, green, oblong or oblong-lanceolate, ca. 8 × 2-3 mm, herbaceous, fulvous sericeous, apex acuminate or acute and fimbriate-ciliate. Ray florets 12 or 13; corolla tube ca. 2 mm, glabrous; lamina yellow, oblong-elliptic, 18-20 × 4-5 mm, 4-7(-9)-veined, apically 3-denticulate. Disk florets many; corolla ca. 4 mm; tube ca. 3 mm; limb campanulate; lobes ovate-lanceolate. Anthers ca. 2 mm, base obtuse, appendages ovate-oblong. Style branches ca. 1 mm, apex truncate. Achenes obovoid-cylindric, ca. 1.5 mm, smooth, glabrous. Pappus absent or rarely of several 1.5-2 mm hairs, soon deciduous. Fl. May, fr. Jun. 2n = 60*.

● Grasslands, in mosses on streamside rocks in deciduous broad-leaved forests; 1300-2400 m. Sichuan (Emei, Hongya).

Sinosenecio sichuanicus resembles S. chienii in leaf shape and the epappose achenes but differs in having stem leaves 2 or 3, leaf blade pubescent on both surfaces, and lamina larger. Although both species are overlapping in geographical distribution and occupy basically the same elevational range, they have not as yet been found to co-occur in the same community.

The four species Sinosenecio chienii, S. homogyniphyllus, S. sichuanicus, and S. yilingii all have obconic-campanulate involucres, ± hairy receptacles, and glabrous and epappose achenes, and are essentially sympatric in geographical distribution. They constitute a very natural group of species.