Saussurea sect. Strictae in Flora of China @ efloras.org

6. Saussurea sect. Strictae C. B. Clarke, Compos. Ind. 221. 1876.

羽裂风毛菊组 yu lie feng mao ju zu

Aplotaxis Candolle; Cyathidium Lindley ex Royle; Eriostemon Lessing (1832), not Smith (1798).

Herbs, perennial, stemless, substemless, or with developed leafy or scapiform stems. Leaves usually pinnately dentate, pinnately lobed, or pinnatisect, rarely undivided. Capitula usually relatively large, solitary, sometimes 2 or 3 in center of leaf rosette or terminal on stem, rarely numerous in a clustered corymbiform synflorescence. Phyllaries in many rows, imbricate, often subequal in length. Receptacle usually with subulate bristles, rarely naked. Anther tails usually lanate or villous. Achene ribbed, smooth or transversely rugose, glabrous. Pappus usually in 2 rows, white, straw-colored, or brown; outer bristles short, deciduous, scabrid, rarely plumose or barbellate, rarely lacking; inner bristles long, plumose.

About 44 species: Bhutan, China, NE and NW India, Kashmir, Nepal; 36 species (27 endemic) in China.

Saussurea sect. Strictae occurs mainly on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau and in the Hengduan Shan region.

Saussurea sect. Cyathidium, the name used by Lipschitz (Rod Saussurea, 154. 1979) for both stemless and cauliferous species with predominantly pinnately divided and often dandelion-like leaves, is not the earliest legitimate name for this taxon at sectional rank. Saussurea taraxacifolia, the type species of the genus Cyathidium, was included in S. sect. Strictae by C. B. Clarke (loc. cit.) and chosen as a lectotype of that section by Lipschitz (loc. cit.: 155). Saussurea andersonii, the lectotype species of S. sect. Depressae, is considered here to be a member of S. sect. Strictae as well. Saussurea sect. Acaules, lectotypified by Kitamura (Acta Phytotax. Geobot. 24: 22. 1969) with S. stoliczkae (= S. andryaloides), is also a synonym of this section. See also the discussion under S. sect. Gymnocline.

1 Plants stemless or shortly stemmed, less than 10 cm tall; capitula usually in center of leaf rosette, exceeded by leaves (2)

+ Plants with well-developed flowering stems, usually more than 10 cm tall; capitula usually solitary and terminal on stem or sometimes several in a corymbiform or paniculiform synflorescence (20)

2 (1) Leaf blade undivided with margin entire, shallowly crenate, or sinuate-dentate (3)

+ Leaf blade bipinnatisect, pinnatisect, pinnately lobed, or pinnately dentate (5)

3 (2) Leaf blade 1-4 cm; involucre narrowly campanulate, 1-1.5 cm in diam 185 S. dschungdienensis

+ Leaf blade 3-11 cm; involucre broadly campanulate, 2-3.5 cm in diam (4)

4 (3) Leaf blade narrowly elliptic to linear, 0.4-1.2 cm wide; inner phyllaries to 1.5 cm; achene transversely rugose. 172 S. lhunzhubensis

+ Leaf blade elliptic, 1-3.5 cm wide; inner phyllaries 2-2.5 cm; achene smooth. 184 S. arenaria

5 (2) Leaf blade bipinnatisect or pinnatisect with split segments (6)

+ Leaf blade simply pinnatisect, pinnately lobed to pinnately dentate, or lyrate-pinnately lobed (7)

6 (5) Leaf blade narrowly elliptic, 6-15 cm; involucre campanulate, 2-2.5 cm in diam. 180 S. colpodes

+ Leaf blade narrowly elliptic-linear, 3-5 cm; involucre cylindric to narrowly campanulate, 1-1.5 cm in diam. 186 S. lavrenkoana

7 (5) Leaf blade adaxially grayish green, ± arachnoid tomentose (8)

+ Leaf blade adaxially green, glabrous, scabrid and strigose, or sparsely arachnoid (9)

8 (7) Involucre 2-3 cm in diam.; receptacle without bristles; leaf blade obovate-oblong to elliptic, 2-4 cm wide; phyllaries whitish, with a purple mucro. 178 S. porphyroleuca

+ Involucre 1-2 cm in diam.; receptacle with bristles; leaf blade narrowly ovate-elliptic,. 3-1.5 cm wide; phyllaries purplish red, without a purple mucro. 187 S. andryaloides

9 (7) Capitula several in a clustered or lax corymbiform synflorescence; involucre ovoid or campanulate, 0.5-1.2 cm in diam (10)

+ Capitula always solitary; involucre usually campanulate, 1-4 cm in diam (11)

10 (9) Plants usually stemless, 1-5 cm tall; leaf blade narrowly elliptic to linear, 0.5-1.5 cm wide; capitula usually 3-10, in a clustered synflorescence; pappus brown, in 1 row. 183 S. salwinensis

+ Plants with a ± developed stem, 5-10(-15) cm tall; leaf blade obovate to narrowly obovate, 1-3 cm wide; capitula usually 2-5, in a lax synflorescence; pappus dirty white, in 2 rows. 191 S. nimborum

11 (9) Leaf blade abaxially pale green, subglabrous, sparsely pilose on veins and margin. 188 S. andersonii

+ Leaf blade abaxially grayish green or grayish white, densely tomentose or thinly to moderately lanate (12)

12 (11) Outer pappus bristles 8-11 mm, plumose; leaf blade abaxially thinly to moderately lanate. 197 S. donkiah

+ Outer pappus bristles 1-6 mm, scabrid; leaf blade abaxially densely tomentose (13)

13 (12) Leaf blade adaxially smooth, sparsely arachnoid. 195 S. leiocarpa

+ Leaf blade adaxially scabrid, strigose or glandular, or glabrous but not arachnoid (14)

14 (13) Leaf blade linear, 0.3-0.8 cm wide (15)

+ Leaf blade narrowly elliptic, oblong, or obovate, 0.8-4 cm wide (16)

15 (14) Leaf blade pinnately lobed or pinnately dentate; involucre broadly campanulate, 2-2.5 cm in diam. 189 S. purpurascens

+ Leaf blade runcinately pinnatisect; involucre narrowly campanulate, 0.6-1 cm in diam. 190 S. nyalamensis

16 (14) Leaf blade narrowly elliptic, oblong, or broadly linear, pinnatisect; leaf blade lateral lobes 8-20 pairs (17)

+ Leaf blade obovate or narrowly obovate, lyrate or pinnately lobed; leaf blade lateral lobes 3-8 pairs (18)

17 (16) Achene smooth; leaf blade 4-30 × 1-4 cm; leaf blade lateral lobes 8-20 pairs; involucre 2-4 cm in diam.; phyllaries sparsely pilose. 194 S. kansuensis

+ Achene transversely rugose; leaf blade 3-18 × 0.8-2.5 cm; leaf blade lateral lobes 8-12 pairs; involucre 1-3 cm in diam.; phyllaries glabrous. 193 S. leontodontoides

18 (16) Plants stemless, to 3 cm tall; leaf blade obovate-elliptic, 1.5-4.5 × 0.8-1.5 cm. 192 S. ceterach

+ Plants stemless or shortly stemmed, 3-10 cm tall; leaf blade obovate to narrowly obovate, 3-12 × 1-3 cm (19)

19 (18) Leaf blade shallowly pinnately lobed; involucre ovoid, 0.5-1.2 cm in diam. 191 S. nimborum

+ Leaf blade lyrate-pinnately lobed; involucre campanulate, 1.2-1.5 cm in diam. 196 S. brachylepis

20 (1) Capitula several, in a paniculiform or corymbiform synflorescence (21)

+ Capitulum solitary, or rarely 2 or 3, terminal on stem (23)

21 (20) Capitula 4-15, in a paniculiform synflorescence, pedunculate; leaf blade green and glabrous on both surfaces. 162 S. incisa

+ Capitula 2-20, clustered in corymbiform synflorescence, subsessile; leaf blade abaxially grayish white and densely tomentose, adaxially green (22)

22 (21) Capitula 2-5(-8); involucre campanulate, 1-1.5 cm in diam.; phyllaries subglabrous, inner ones 1.3-1.6 cm. 181 S. lingulata

+ Capitula 3-20; involucre ovoid to globose, 0.6-1 cm in diam.; phyllaries sparsely villous, inner ones to 1 cm. 182 S. przewalskii

23 (20) Leaf blade green on both surfaces, glabrous or subglabrous (24)

+ Leaf blade abaxially grayish green or grayish white and densely tomentose, arachnoid, or lanate, adaxially green and glabrous, subglabrous, or sparsely arachnoid (26)

24 (23) Leaf blade pinnatisect, lateral segments linear, margin entire. 163 S. henryi

+ Leaf blade runcinate-pinnately lobed, lateral lobes narrowly triangular-falcate, semiorbicular, or triangular, margin dentate (25)

25 (24) Stem and petioles subglabrous or whitish pubescent; leaf blade adaxially subglabrous; involucre 0.8-1.7 cm in diam.; outer pappus bristles plumose. 164 S. eriostemon

+ Stem and petioles densely covered with pale brown multicellular articulate hairs; leaf blade adaxially scabrid, strigose; involucre 1.5-2.5 cm in diam.; outer pappus bristles scabrid. 165 S. scabrida

26 (23) Leaf blade bipinnately lobed or bipinnatisect. 167 S. centiloba

+ Leaf blade not bipinnately lobed or bipinnatisect but rather simply pinnately lobed, pinnatisect, or rarely undivided (27)

27 (26) Leaf blade undivided with margin entire, sinuate, denticulate, or dentate (28)

+ Leaf blade runcinate-pinnately lobed, or pinnatisect (30)

28 (27) Leaf blade linear to narrowly elliptic, less than 1 cm wide (if wider then leaf blade pinnatisect). 168 S. yunnanensis

+ Leaf blade elliptic, obovate, or oblong, 1-2 cm wide (29)

29 (28) Outer phyllaries reflexed; corolla ca. 2 cm. 173 S. paleacea

+ Outer phyllaries not reflexed; corolla ca. 1.5 cm. 174 S. limprichtii

30 (27) Leaf blade adaxially grayish green and ± arachnoid tomentose, lyrate pinnately lobed; receptacle without bristles; phyllaries whitish, densely arachnoid tomentose, with purple mucro. 178 S. porphyroleuca

+ Leaf blade adaxially green and glabrous, pubescent, glandular, or strigose, pinnately lobed to pinnatisect; receptacle with bristles; phyllaries not arachnoid, without purple mucro (31)

31 (30) Leaf blade adaxially glabrous or subglabrous (32)

+ Leaf blade adaxially scabrid, pubescent, glandular hairy, strigose, or sparsely arachnoid (35)

32 (31) Stem ca. 5 mm in diam. at base; capitula large; involucre 2.5-3.5 cm in diam.; phyllaries densely villous. 177 S. wardii

+ Stem 2-3 mm in diam. at base; capitula small; involucre 1.5-2.5 cm in diam.; phyllaries sparsely villous or glabrous (33)

33 (32) Leaf blade runcinately pinnatisect; leaf blade segments narrowly triangular-linear, strongly reclinate, margin revolute. 168 S. yunnanensis

+ Leaf blade pinnately lobed; leaf blade lobes obliquely triangular, patent or recurved, margin not revolute (34)

34 (33) Leaf blade 5-15 × 1-2.5 cm; leaf blade lobes 5-7 pairs. 166 S. taraxacifolia

+ Leaf blade 2-6.5 × 0.6-1.7 cm; leaf blade lobes 2-5 pairs. 169 S. leptolepis

35 (31) Outer phyllaries usually reflexed, apical part green and herbaceous (36)

+ Outer phyllaries erect, appressed, apical part straw-colored or brownish to blackish purple and not herbaceous (37)

36 (35) Leaf blade lyrate, pinnately lobed, or subpinnatisect; involucre 1.5-2 cm in diam.; basal leaves usually shorter than flowering stem. 175 S. semilyrata

+ Leaf blade pinnatisect; segments coarsely dentate; involucre 2-3.5 cm in diam.; basal leaves usually longer than flowering stem. 179 S. pachyneura

37 (35) Leaf blade runcinate-pinnately lobed, sometimes lyrate; leaf blade lobes 3-8 pairs, obliquely triangular; capitula large; involucre 2.5-3.5 cm; outer phyllaries narrowly triangular-subulate. 176 S. subulisquama

+ Leaf blade pinnatisect; leaf blade lobes 7-13 pairs, narrowly oblong or narrowly triangular-ovate; capitula medium-sized; involucre 1-2.5 cm in diam.; outer phyllaries narrowly ovate-triangular (38)

38 (37) Lateral leaf blade lobes 7-13 pairs, narrowly oblong, apex rounded and mucronate. 170 S. polypodioides

+ Lateral leaf blade lobes 10-20 pairs, narrowly triangular-ovate, apex acuminate. 171 S. coriacea

List of lower taxa