四花合耳菊 si hua he er ju

Senecio tetranthus Candolle, Prodr. 6: 370. 1838.

Herbs, scandent. Stems terete, sparsely pubescent or subglabrous, branching, leafy. Leaves rather distant, petiolate; blade ovate or ovate-lanceolate, 5.5-12 × 3.5-9 cm, membranous, abaxially sparsely pubescent especially on veins to glabrous, adaxially scattered setulose, pinnately veined, lateral veins 10, arcuate-ascending, base cordate, truncate, or rounded, margin mucronately irregularly sinuate-serrate or dentate, apex acutely long acuminate. Capitula heterogamous, minutely radiate, numerous, arranged in terminal and axillary paniculoid thyrse, shortly pedunculate or subsessile; peduncles densely pubescent, linear-bracteate. Involucres narrowly cylindric, 4-5.5 × 1-1.5 mm, shortly calyculate; bracts of calyculus few; phyllaries 4 or 5, oblong, herbaceous, sparsely pubescent, margin scarious, apically obtuse. Ray florets 2; corolla yellow, ca. 5 mm, with ca. 2.5 mm tube and oblong-linear, minutely 3-denticulate lamina, usually shorter than style. Disk florets 2(or 3); corolla yellow, long exserted, ca. 7.5 mm, with ca. 2.5 mm tube and funnelform limb; lobes erect, oblong-lanceolate, ca. 1.5 mm, apically acute. Anthers ca. 2 mm, anther tails ca. equaling antheropodia; appendages ovate-lanceolate; antheropodia distinctly dilated at base. Style branches ca. 0.8 mm, fringed with rather short papillae. Achenes ca. 2.5 mm, sparsely puberulent. Pappus white or pale reddish, ca. 5 mm. Fl. Aug-Sep.

Mixed woods, forests; 2300-2700 m. Xizang (Cona, Nyalam) [Bhutan, NE India, Nepal].