2. Saussurea tianshanensis T. Li & Y. S. Chen, sp. nov. (Figure 6)

Type: — CHINA. Xinjiang, Hami City, East Tianshan mountion, Dangsheng Gully, 43° 12’ 28” N, 93° 50’ 24” E, 1660 m, 22 July 2021, T. Li & Y. S. Chen CYS21102 (Holotype: IBSC; Isotype: IBSC).

Description: —Herbs 28–50 cm tall, perennial. Rootstock stout, apically branched, covered with remains of leaf sheaths. Stems many, erect, branched above middle, green, nearly glabrous. Leaf fleshy, green, both surfaces sparsely arachnoid, glabrescent. Basal and lower stem leaves petiolate, 2–4 cm, base widened; leaf blade oblong to elliptic, ca. 5 × ca. 2 cm, pinnately divided; segments 4–5 pairs, linear-lanceolate, margin entire, apex acute with a mucronate. Middle stem leaves gradually smaller upward on stem, pinnately divided. Uppermost stem leaves linear, undivided. Capitula usually solitary or in a corymbiform synflorescence. Involucre ovoid, ca. 5 mm in diam. Phyllaries in 5–7 rows, imbricate, purplish-green, arachnoid lanate, margin membranous, apex acute; outer phyllaries ovate; middle phyllaries ovate-oblong; inner phyllaries linear-lanceolate. Corolla purple, ca. 1.1 cm, tube ca. 5.5 mm, limb ca. 8 mm. Achene cylindrical, ca. 4 mm. Pappus white; outer bristles ca. 3 mm, setaceous; inner bristles ca. 10 mm, plumose.

Phenology:—Flowering and fruiting from July to August.

Etymology:— Saussurea tianshanensis is derived from its type locality, the Eastern Tianshan Mountains, Hami City, Xinjiang, China. Its Chinese name is proposed as “ 哈ĒKŧẅ ”.

Distribution and habitat:— Saussurea tianshanensis was found in Dangshen Gully of the Eastern Tianshan Mountains, Hami City, Xinjiang, China (Figure 6). It grows on the side of the canyon road, gravel slope, about 1660 m.