Saussurea qamdoensis Y.S. Chen, 2014

Chen, You-Sheng, 2014, Five new species of Saussurea (Asteraceae, Cardueae) from the Hengduan Mountains region, southwestern China, Phytotaxa 170 (3), pp. 141-154 : 147-148

4. Saussurea qamdoensis Y.S. Chen , sp. nov. ( Figs. 4 , 7C & 7D )

Type:— CHINA. Xizang (Tibet): Qamdo, eastern side of Zhuoga-La Shan, on the way from Qamdo to Riwoqê , narrow valley of a tributary of Gei Qu River , Picea forest margins and meadows on steep hillsides, 31°07’22” N, 97°01’24” E, 3650 m, 4 August 2010, Kham Exped. 10-1200 (holotype PE; isotypes PE) .

Perennial herbs, 20–30 cm tall. Rhizome usually branched, ascending or prostrate, covered with withered remains of leaves. Stems 2–3 mm in diameter, usually several or sometimes solitary, erect, apically few-branched, straw-colored to brown, sparsely arachnoid. Leaves adaxially green, glabrous, base attenuate, margin sparsely denticulate, apex acute, abaxially light green and glabrous. Rosette, basal and lower stem leaves petiolate; leaf blade linear, 11–20 × 0.7–1 cm, base tapering into petiole; middle and upper cauline leaves few, small, linear to linear-lanceolate, 5–13.5 × 0.4–0.8 cm, base sessile, attenuate. Peduncles 0.5–8.5 cm, sparsely arachnoid. Capitula 2–6, 1– 1.6 cm in diameter, in a clustered or lax, corymbiform synflorescence. Involucre obconic, 1–1.6 cm in diameter. Phyllaries in 4 or 5 rows, dark green, densely to sparsely villous especially at apex, apex usually obtuse; outer phyllaries triangular-ovate, 1.4–20 × 2– 2.8 mm, apex acuminate; middle phyllaries narrowly ovate-elliptic, 10–11 × 2.5–3 mm, apex obtuse; inner phyllaries linear, 12–14 × 1.8–2 mm, apex obtuse. Receptacle flat or slightly convex, densely bristly; bristles white, subulate, 5–7 mm. Corolla purple, ca. 1.4 cm, glabrous, tube ca. 6.5 mm long and ca. 0.6 mm in diameter, throat ca. 4 mm long and 1–1.1 mm in diameter, lobes ca. 5 × 0.5 mm. Anthers ca. 8 mm long, tails lanate. Achene narrowly obconic, 4–5 × 1.2–1.5 mm, glabrous, ribbed, apex with a short crown. Pappus heteromorphic, biseriate; outer bristles more numerous than the inner ones, dirty white to pale brown, scabrid, caducous, 3–5 mm long; inner bristles apically white, basally straw-colored to pale brown, plumose, persistent, connate at base, 12–14 mm long.

Distribution and habitat:— Saussurea qamdoensis is currently known only on the eastern side of Zhuoga-La Shan in Qamdo County, Xizang, China. It grows along Picea forest margins or on grassy slopes at altitudes between 3650 and 4000 m.

Phenology:—Flowering and fruiting from August to September.

Etymology:—The specific epithet “ qamdoensis ” is derived from the type locality, Qamdo County, Xizang, China.

Additional specimens examined (paratypes): — CHINA. Xizang: Qamdo, eastern side of Zhuoga-La Shan on the way from Qamdo to Riwoqê , Picea forests margins and meadows on slopes, 31°05’27.72’’ N, 96°59’43.15’’ E, 4000 m, 4 August 2010, Kham Exped. 10-1222 ( PE); same locality, 31°07’22” N, 97°01’24” E, 3650–3730 m, 14 August 2004, D. E . Boufford et al. 32408 ( A) .

Discussion:— Saussurea qamdoensis belongs to S. subgen. Saussurea sect. Saussurea because of the welldeveloped and not scapiform stem, and the capitula several and only 1–1.6 cm in diameter. The species is distinct in having linear leaves and several sparsely arranged heads. It is most closely similar to S. pantlingiana Smith (1911: 73) from Sikkim, but the latter species is distinct by its leaves coriaceous, shorter, adaxially rugose, abaxially greyish white, and densely white tomentose.

Saussurea qamdoensis is also similar to S. tibetica Winkler (1894: 242) but differs in several characters (see Table 2 for the detail). Saussurea tibetica was reported to occur in Xizang ( Shih & Jin 1999, Shih & Raab-Straube 2011), but we have been unable to find any specimens of the species from Xizang. The type material of S. tibetica was collected by the Russian collector Przewalski from “ Tibet borealis, ad fl. Hoangho super”, indicating that the type locality is actually situated in the upper reaches of the Yellow River [Huang Ho], Qinghai Province, China.

Saussurea pseudograminea Wang et al. (2014: 4) , a species recently described from Gansu Province of China, is superficially similar to S. qamdoensis in its linear leaves and a few capitula. However, S. pseudograminea seems to be closely related to (if not conspecific with) S. brunneopilosa Handel-Mazzetti (1937: 651) according to its habit, leaf shape, indumentum and shape of phyllaries.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Saussurea qamdoensis. A. Habit. B. Achene. C. Inner pappus. D. Florets with pappi and achenes. E. Phyllaries (from left to right, outer to inner series). All from Kham Exped. 10-1200 (PE). Illustration by Ms. P. Liu.

FIGURE 7. Saussurea liangshanensis (A, B) and S. qamdoensis (C, D) in the wild.