Saussurea leveilleana Maire; S. villosa Franchet.

Herbs 5-20(-35) cm tall, perennial. Stem solitary, well developed, erect, simple, densely white villous. Basal leaves distinctly petiolate; petiole to 8 cm; leaf blade elliptic to narrowly elliptic-oblanceolate, 2-16 × 0.8-4 cm, abaxially pale green and sparsely villous, adaxially dark green and sparsely villous, base oblique and rounded to cuneate, margin entire and ciliate, apex acute to obtuse. Stem leaves few, sessile, narrowly ovate-elliptic to linear, gradually smaller upward on stem. Capitulum solitary, terminal on stem. Involucre campanulate, 1-1.5 cm in diam. Phyllaries in 4 or 5 rows, blackish purple, densely villous, apex long acuminate; outer phyllaries narrowly ovate-triangular, ca. 10 × 3 mm; middle phyllaries narrowly ovate-elliptic, ca. 13 × 2.5 mm; inner phyllaries narrowly lanceolate to linear, ca. 2 × 0.2 cm. Corolla purple, 1.8-2.4 cm, tube 1-1.6 cm, limb ca. 8 mm, lobes 5-6 mm. Achene brown, cylindric, 2-4 mm, glabrous. Pappus pale brown; outer bristles 2-7 mm, scabrid; inner bristles ca. 1.4 cm. Fl. and fr. Jun-Sep. 2n = 64.

Alpine scree slopes, grasslands, rocky slopes; 4400-5200 m. W Sichuan, Xizang, NW Yunnan [Bhutan, India (Sikkim), Nepal].