2. Cirsium nishiokae Kitamura (1968: 75) . Fig. 8.

Type: — INDIA. Darjeeling, below Tonglu, 2900 m, 16 September 1964, H. Hara s.n. (holotype: TI00080535!). Fig. 5 A–C .

= Cirsium chrysolepis Shih (1984: 451), syn. nov.

Type: — CHINA. Tibet, Nyalam County, alt. 3500 m, 27 August 1972, Xizang Exped. Pl. Med. 1575 (holotype: PE00455486!, isotype: PE00455488!). Figs. 5 E–F, 6 A .

Description: —Herbs 1–2 m tall, perennial. Stem erect, ribbed, branched above, unwinged, glabrous or sparsely cobwebby. Basal leaves with winged petiole, wing spiny or with spiny teeth; leaf blade elliptic, ca. 30 × 15 cm, pinnatipartite or pinnatisect; segments ca. 6 pairs, lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, with unequal triangular teeth fringed with 0.3–1 cm spine. Cauline leaves gradually decreasing upwards, sessile, semiamplexicaul, elliptic to lanceolate, pinnatilobate or pinnatipartite; segments 3–4 pairs, lanceolate to obliquely triangular-ovate, with 2–4 unequal triangular teeth fringed with spinules less than 0.5 mm and with a 5–10 mm apical spine. All leaves discolorous, abaxially grayish white and densely or sparsely tomenta, adaxially green, rough, and densely or sparsely covered with ca. 0.5 mm spinules. Capitula corymbose, erect. Involucre campanulate, 3–3.5 cm in diam., glabrous. Phyllaries imbricate, in ca. 8 rows, straight, appressed; outer and middle phyllaries elliptic to lanceolate, 8–25 × 2–3 mm, margin above base expanded into yellowish, scarious lacerate wings, apex narrowed into a spine, shorter than inner ones; inner phyllaries lanceolate to linear, apically expanded into a short and narrow, acuminate, and spine-tipped appendage. Florets bisexual. Corolla purplish red. Achene ca. 4.5 mm. Pappus bristles yellowish, ca. 1.6 mm.

Phenology: —Flowering from July to October.

Distribution and habitat: — Cirsium nishiokae is distributed in China (Tibet), India (Darjeeling) and Nepal. It mainly grows on grass slopes at elevations of 2500–3900 m above sea level.

Additional specimens examined:— CHINA. Tibet: Nyalam, 25 June 1966, Y. T . Zhang s.n. (PE00455487); Nyalam, 17 Sep. 1992, J . D. Chen 92242 (PE01837380); Nyalam, alt. 3285 m, 18 Nov. 2011, Y. S . Chen 92242 (PE02118071); Nyalam, alt. 3300 m, 20 Aug. 2001, H. N . Tan et al. 730 (PE01772078, PE01772077) .— NEPAL. Dhawalagiri Zone, Mustang District, Annapurna Himal, Mardi Khola, alt. 13000 ft, 19 Sep. 1954, J .D.A. Stainton, W.R. Sykes & L.H.J. Williams 8509 (BM011033556, E00463841); Dhawalagiri Zone, Mustang District, Tukucha, alt. 10500 ft, 26 Aug. 1954, J .D.A. Stainton, W.R. Sykes & L.H.J. Williams 7457 (BM011033572, E00463842); Dhawalagiri Zone, Mustang District, Tukucha, alt. 10500 ft, 12 Sep. 1954, J .D.A. Stainton, W.R. Sykes & L.H.J. Williams 7803 (BM011033571, E00463843); Dhawalagiri Zone, Mustang District, Tukucha, alt. 10500 ft, 22 Aug. 1954, J . D. A. Stainton, W.R. Sykes & L.H.J. Williams 7395 (BM011033579, BM011033573); Dhawalagiri Zone, Myagdi District, alt. 3700 m, 9 Sep. 1996, M . Mikage et al. 9684133 (KATH027754); Dhawalagiri Zone, Myagdi District, alt. 3160 m, 18 Sep. 1996, M . Mikage et al. 9682802 (KATH019466); Koshi Zone, Solukhumbu District, Lukla, alt. 2820 m, 30 Sep. 1974, J. H . Hass 2902 (L0207731); Mechi Zone, Taplejung District, alt. 2800 m, 25 Oct. 1991, D. G . Long et al. 1033 (KATH027504, E00463839); Mechi Zone, Taplejung District, Minchin Dhap-Mul Pokhari, 29 Oct. 1963, H . Hara et al. 6310299 (BM011033557, E0071931, TI00080532, TI00080533, TI00080534, BM, TI); Rapti Zone, Rukum District, Dogadi Khola, alt. 12000 ft, 8 Aug. 1954, J .D.A. Stainton, W.R. Sykes & L.H.J. Williams 3796 (BM011033554, BM011033558, E00463840); Sagarmatha Zone, Solukhumbu District, alt. 3453 m, 15 Sep. 2005, M. F . Watson et al. DNEP3 BX92 (KATH056019, KATH011396, E00248957); Sagarmatha Zone, Solukhumbu District, alt. 3000 m, 21 Aug. 1985, H . Ohba et al. 61541 (KATH018970); Seti Zone, Baglung District, Dhorpatan, alt. 2800 m, 8 Sep. 1982, K. R . Rajbhandari & K.J. Malla 6413 (KATH055988, KATH055978, KATH056184) .

Notes: — Cirsium chrysolepis Shih was described on the basis of one collection, Xizang Exped. Pl. Med. 1575 (PE, Fig. 5 D, Fig. 6 A), from Nyalam, Tibet, China. In the protologue, the author did not compare it with any species, but in Flora Reipublicae Popularis Sinicae, Shih (1987) stated that it was close to C. flavisquamatum Kitamura (1974: 16), a species from Nepal, but differed by leaves discolorous, abaxially grayish white and densely or sparsely tomentose. But he neglected C. nishiokae Kitamura, a widespread species in Nepal and India. Cirsium nishiokae was described on the basis of one collection, H. Hara s.n. (TI, Fig. 6 A), from Darjeeling, India. Trough examination of the type materials and other specimens, we found that C. nishiokae and C. chrysolepis have no obvious differences in main traits between their type specimens, but there are some differences in the density of spinules on the abaxial leaf surface. But this feature is very variable in Cirsium . For example, there is a continuous variation from sparse to dense on the abaxial leaf surface of C. lipskyi . Cirsium nishiokae is distributed in Nepal and India at altitudes of 2500–3900 m, while C. chrysolepis is only found in Nyalam, Tibet, China at an altitude of 3500 m, where it is very close to the border to Nepal (Fig. 7). Therefore, we think they belong to the same species and treat C. chrysolepis as a synonym of C. nishiokae .