Fischer's ligularia

Family Asteraceae. Siberia, the Far East, Mongolia, China, Japan. In moist meadows, in open forests, in shrub thickets.

Perennial plant 30-150 cm tall. Rhizome shortened, stems erect, simple, grooved, at the base with fibrous remnants of dead leaves, pubescent with brownish curly multicellular hairs. Rosette leaves cordate, cordate-reniform, more rarely almost lanceolate, 12-23 cm long and 10-25 cm wide, apex rounded or shortly acuminate, on thin long petioles. The lower stem leaf similar to the rosette leaves; the middle ones are smaller, acuminate, on short, winged petioles with a stem-clasping base; the uppermost are small, sessile, with a stem-clasping base.

Inflorescence - a dense or lax panicle of 5-45 flower heads, usually simple, rarely with 2-4 heads developing on the lower peduncles; the upper part of the stem with peduncles densely pubescent with brownish multicellular twisted hairs; peduncles at the beginning of flowering erect, becoming arcuately bent downward with age. The lower bracts are ovate or ovate-lanceolate, toothed, acuminate, often boat-shaped folded; the upper ones are narrow, lanceolate-linear, entire. Flower heads with the ray flowers 2.5-4 cm in diameter. Involucre bell-shaped, 10-14 mm long and 8-12 mm wide, pubescent with brownish articulated hairs, at the base with 2-3 linear bracteoles. Inner phyllaries ovate, acuminate, broadly scarious-margined; outer ones lanceolate, narrowly scarious. Ray flowers bright yellow, with limb 15-25 mm long, 2.5-6 mm wide; tubular (disk) flowers 10-13 mm long, with a narrowly campanulate upper part 4-5 mm long. Pappus brownish, 6-7 mm long. Achenes black-brown, 6-8 mm long, ribbed.