Saussurea habashanensis 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 : 171-173

7. Saussurea habashanensis Y. S. Chen , sp. nov. ( Fig. 7 )

Type:— CHINA. Yunnan: Shangri-la County, Hashan Shan , swamp meadows beside alpine lake, 3880 m, 11 August 1981, PE Hengduan Mountain Expedition 2977 (holotype PE; isotypes PE) .

Herbs perennial, 16–30 cm tall, caespitose, forming clumps. Caudex usually branched at ground level, covered with withered remains of old leaves. Stems many, 2–2.5 mm in diameter, erect, simple, sparsely pubescent. Rosette and lower stem leaves petiolate; petioles 2–3.5 cm long, glabrous; leaf blade linear-lanceolate, 8–11 cm long, 3–9 mm wide, both surfaces green, sparsely pubescent to glabrescent, margin minutely denticulate or sometimes subentire, apex acute to acuminate. Middle and upper leaves sessile, narrowly ovate to elliptic, 4.5–7(–10) cm long, (0.3–) 0.5–4 cm wide, apex acute, base semiamplexicaul. Uppermost stem leaves sessile, ovate, boat-shaped, 2.5–4.5 cm long, 1.3–2 cm wide, half-enclosing the capitula, both surfaces purple, margin sparsely denticulate or sometimes nearly entire, apex acute. Capitulum solitary, on the top of flowering stem. Involucre broadly campanulate, 1.8–2.4 cm in diameter, 1.4–1.8 cm high. Phyllaries in ca. 4 rows, blackish or purplish brown, white villous, apically glabrescent; outer phyllaries triangular-ovate, 8–11 mm long, 4–4.5 mm wide, apex acute; inner phyllaries lanceolate, 15–17 mm long, 0.5–2 mm wide, apex acuminate. Receptacle bristles 5–6 mm long. Corolla tube ca. 6 mm long, limb ca. 3 mm long, lobes 3–4 mm long. Anthers ca. 5.6 mm long including tails; tails lacerate, ca. 0.7 mm long. Achenes cylindroid, ca. 3.5 mm long, ribbed, glabrous. Pappus light brown; outer bristles scabrid, 2–3 mm long; inner bristles plumose, ca. 14 mm long.

Distribution and habitat:— Saussurea habashanensis is currently known only from Shangri-la County, Yunnan, China. It grows in alpine swamp meadows or alpine thickets and grassland at altitudes of 3850–3900 m.

Phenology:—Flowering and fruiting from August to September.

Etymology:—The specific epithet is derived from the name of Haba Shan, a mountain in northwestern Yunnan, China. Chinese name: ǙƂƜǞfi.

Additional specimens examined (paratype):— CHINA. Yunnan: Shangri-la County, Jisha forest farm, in thickets and grassland, 3850 m, 10 August 1981, Y. F. Han et al. 81-1614 (PE).

Discussion:—In our molecular tree, S. habashanensis is shown to be closely related to S. delavayi Franchet (1888: 355) , S. liangshanensis Chen (2014b: 143) and S. scabrida Franchet (1891: 146) . Interestingly, none of the above related species belongs to S. subgen. Amphilaena. Saussurea habashanensis is similar to S. longifolia Franchet (1888: 354) and S. muliensis Handel-Mazzetti (1937: 656) in the habit, solitary capitula, and uppermost stem leaves half-enclosing the capitula, but differs from both species by its leaves sparsely pubescent to glabrescent on both surfaces, leaf margin minutely denticulate to subentire, lower stem leaves and middle stem leaves usually different in shape, lower stem leaves linear-lanceolate, middle and upper leaves narrowly ovate to elliptic, and involucre smaller (1.8–2.4 cm in diameter). In fact S. habashanensis is most similar to S. gymnocephala ( Ling 1949: 92) Raab-Straube (2011: 89) in habit, leaf shape and indumentum, but S. habashanensis differs by th shape of its lower and middle stem leaves, lower leaves being linear-lanceolate, middle and upper leaves narrowly ovate to elliptic, and blade narrower (vs. leaves all narrowly elliptic to elliptic, blade wider), and capitula solitary (vs. 1–4). A comparison of S. habashanensis with related species is given in Table 6.

Figures

FIGURE 7. Saussurea habashanensis. A. Habit. B. Habit. C. Floret (with pappus removed). D. Style branches. E. Anthers. F. Outer pappus bristle. G. Inner pappus bristle. H. Floret. I. Phyllaries (from left to right, outer to inner series). All from PE Hengduan Mountain Expedition 2977 (PE). Drawn by Mr. Y.X. Zhu.