About Achyranthemum paniculatum (L.) N.G.Bergh
Achyranthemum paniculatum is a low, sparsely branched subshrub. It usually grows 0.2 – 0.7 m high, but can reach up to 1.2 m. The lower part of the plant is woody. Branching is mostly near the base. The stems are simple or sparsely branched above and are covered with grey felt. The leaves are alternate, ranging from laxly to densely imbricate, and are sessile. The basal part of the leaves is appressed to the stem and attached with a reticulate, sheath - like webbing of white hairs. The distal part of the leaves is erect to spreading, sometimes incurved or apically recurved, linear to linear - subulate. Their size is extremely variable, being 10 – 25 (– 65) mm long and 0.8 – 3.0 (– 5.0) mm wide. The leaves are concave or conduplicate, striate, with narrowly involute margins. The apex usually has a triangular mucro about 1.2 mm long, sometimes pungent, and has a firm texture. Both surfaces are covered with very long (2 – 3 mm or longer) silvery - white arachnoid hairs that form a thick, longitudinally oriented, irregularly reticulating lattice - like sheath. The indumentum is less developed and more compact on the concave adaxial surface and strongly developed abaxially, especially on the apical portion of the leaf.
The capitula are (1 –) 3 to 15 (– 40) in a compact pseudo - corymb, spherical, 6 – 15 × 6 – 18 mm. The peduncles are slender, 5 – 45 mm long, and densely pale grey - felted with a thick layer of very fine interwoven whitish hairs. There are about 60 to 120 involucral bracts in about 6 to 9 series. The lamina is white and often tinged pink when immature. The outermost bracts are erect or squarrose at maturity, broadly lanceolate, 4 – 8 × 2 – 3 mm, with long white hairs on the abaxial stereome. The lamina is acute, silvery - white, and somewhat keeled. The middle bracts are mostly squarrose, linear - lanceolate to narrowly oblanceolate, 5 – 12 × 2.5 – 3.0 mm, with a stereome 2.0 – 3.0 mm long. The innermost bracts are erect, 4.0 – 6.0 × 0.5 – 1.2 mm, with a linear stereome 4.0 – 4.5 × 0.8 – 1.0 mm and a patch of long, tangled white hairs on the abaxial apex. The lamina is similar to the outer bracts but short, deltoid, and obtuse, 1.5 – 2.0 × 1.2 mm.
The receptacle is 4.0 – 5.0 mm in diameter. There are about (25 –) 40 to 120 florets. The corolla is not or very slightly and gradually expanded apically, yellow, 4.5 – 6.5 × 0.3 – 0.5 mm including lobes. The anther apical appendage is acuminate to caudiculate. The cypselae are linear, 1.2 × 0.4 mm, dark reddish - brown. The pappus bristles are united at the base into a smooth ring, the shaft is barbellate, and the apex is nude with apical cells inflated distally to form acute, barb - like projections. The plant mainly flowers from September to December, into January at high altitude, rarely in February and from May to July.
