Saussurea multiloba Y. S. Chen, 2015

Chen, You-Sheng & Yuan, Qian, 2015, Twenty-six new species of Saussurea (Asteraceae, Cardueae) from the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and adjacent regions, Phytotaxa 213 (3), pp. 159-211 : 182

12. Saussurea multiloba Y. S. Chen , sp. nov. ( Fig. 12 )

Type:— China. Sichuan: Litang County, Maoyaba prairie, 30°11 ʹ N, 99°55 ʹ E, stony meadow, 4100 m, 22 August 2009, Y. S. Chen 9532 (holotype PE; isotype PE) .

Herbs perennial, 4–6 cm tall, caespitose. Caudex stout, fibrously split, numerously branched at ground level. Stems (2–)4–7, very short, with 1–3 cauline leaves, grayish white, sparsely arachnoid-lanate to glabrescent. Leaves mostly rosulate; petiole 0.5–1 cm long; leaf blade lanceolate to narrowly oblong, 5–9 cm long, 4–11 mm wide, bipinnatisect, adaxially green and glandular scabrid, abaxially densely white arachnoid and glandular dotted along midveins; primary lobes 15–27-paired; ultimate lobes with obtuse apex. Capitula solitary in each rosette of leaves. Involucre broadly campanulate to campanulate, 1–1.5 cm in diameter, 1.5–1.9 cm high, with several entire and linear supporting leaves. Phyllaries in 5–6 rows, imbricate, abaxially sparsely arachnoid and especially dense in apex; outer and middle phyllaries triangular-oblong to oblong, 6.5–9 mm long, 2.5–3 mm wide, apex acute, green and usually reflexed; inner phyllaries linear, 15–16 mm long, 1.2–2 mm wide, apex acute and purple. Receptacle flat, densely covered with persistent yellowish white acerose bristles, 2–3 mm long. Florets numerous, corolla purple, 16–18 mm, tubular-funnelform, glabrous, tube 8–10 mm long, limb 7–8 mm long, lobes linear, ca. 4.8 mm long. Anthers dark purple, 6–7 mm long including tails, apical appendage acute, basal appendages obtuse, auricles with lacerate tails ca. 1 mm long. Achenes (immature) cylindroid, 2.2–2.6 mm long, ca. 0.8 mm wide, ribbed and transversely rugose, glabrous. Pappus straw-colored; outer bristles scabrid, 2–3 mm long; inner bristles plumose, ca. 13 mm long.

Distribution and habitat:— Saussurea multiloba is currently known only from Daocheng County and Litang County, western Sichuan. It grows on alpine sandy or stony meadows at altitudes of 3960–4100 m.

Phenology: — Flowering and fruiting from August to September.

Etymology:—The specific epithet reflects numerous lobes of leaves of the new species. Chinese name: ØṄṈ LẄ.

Additional specimens examined (paratypes):— CHINA. Sichuan: Daocheng County, north of Sandui and in front of Sandui Monastery , open areas in sandy soil, heavily grazed meadows over sandy soil and small, shallow, intermittent pools, 29°12 ʹ 53"N, 100°6 ʹ 4"E, 3960 m, 27 August 2006, D. E. Boufford et al. 37377 ( A, KUN, PE, TI) ; Daocheng County, Sangdui Xiang , 29°12 ʹ N, 100°6 ʹ E, stony meadows beside Abies forests, 4000 m, 27 August 2009, Y. S. Chen 9630 ( PE) .

Discussion:—No related species are shown to be close to S. multiloba in our molecular tree. S. multiloba belongs to S. subgen. Saussurea sect. Strictae because of its pinnately lobed leaves and solitary capitula. It is most similar to S. centiloba Handel-Mazzetti (1920: 144) in its bipinnatisect leaves and solitary capitula, but it differs by its stems 4–6 cm tall (vs. 10–50 cm tall), usually without cauline leaves (vs. with several cauline leaves), leaf blade linear or lanceolate, 5–9 cm long and 0.4–1.1 cm wide (vs. narrowly elliptic, 8–21 cm long and 1.3–4.5 cm wide), involucre 1–1.5 cm in diameter (vs. 1.5–2 cm in diameter), phyllary apex acuminate to acute (vs. obtuse or acute), and achenes ca. 2.6 mm long (vs. 4–5 mm long). It is also similar to S. lavrenkoana Lipschitz (1972: 532) in its fibrously split and branched caudex, bipinnatisect leaves, solitary capitula, involucre 1–1.5 cm in diameter, and phyllary apex acuminate to acute, but differs by its leaf blade lanceolate to narrowly oblong, 5–9 cm long (vs. narrowly elliptic-linear, 3.5–5 cm long), and achenes ca. 2.6 mm long (vs. ca. 4.5 mm long). A comparison of S. multiloba with related species is given in Table 10.

Figures

FIGURE 12. Saussurea multiloba. A. Habit. B. Floret. C. Leaf lobe. D. Style branches. E. Inner pappus bristle. F. Outer pappus bristle. G. Phyllaries (from left to right, outer to inner series). H.Anthers. I. Floret (with pappus removed).All from Y. S. Chen 9532 (PE). Drawn by Mr. Y.X. Zhu.