Acilepis spirei (Gandoger) H. Robinson; Serratula darrisii H. Léveillé; Vernonia stibaliae Handel-Mazzetti.

Herbs, perennial, 40-80 cm tall. Stems erect, hard, branched, rarely simple, distinctly striate, ferruginous puberulent. Petiole 3-5 mm, densely pubescent; leaf blade elliptic-obovate or oblong-lanceolate, rarely oblanceolate, 5-12 × 2.5-4 cm, thickly papery, abaxially or along veins puberulent and white glandular, adaxially dark green, slightly scabrid, hispidulous, lateral veins 5-7-paired, veins abaxially prominent, veinlets reticulate, base rather narrowed or cuneately attenuate, margin sparsely serrulate or serrate, apex shortly acute or acuminate, or sometimes obtuse. Synflorescences terminal, ± racemelike, leafy. Capitula few, sometimes solitary, 15-20 mm; peduncle 3-9 cm, densely ferruginous pubescent, often with 1 or 2 reduced leaflets. Involucre conic or subspheroidal, 10-15 × 15-20 mm; phyllaries 6-seriate, green or apex reddish purple, outer subulate, short, yellow or yellowish brown arachnoid villous, abruptly attenuate into 3-5 mm recurved mucro, median ovate or ovate-oblong, inner linear, 10-12 × ca. 1.5 mm, margins broadly scarious, sparsely puberulent, apex red-purple, ± lacerate, hardly mucronate. Receptacle flat, ca. 5 mm in diam., foveolate. Florets many; corolla tubular, 9-10 mm, glandular; lobes linear-lanceolate, 3-4 mm, glandular. Achenes oblong-cylindric, ca. 4 mm, 10-ribbed, adpressed puberulent, glandular. Pappus 2-seriate, yellowish brown; outer setae few, short; inner setae ca. 8 mm, scabrid. Fl. Sep-Nov.

Grasslands, thickets, forest margins; 1000-2400 m. Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan [Laos].