Artemisia fulvella Filatova & Ladygina

Jin, Guang-Zhao, Sheludyakova, Mariya, Abduraimov, Ozodbek, Feng, Ying & Ge, Xue-Jun, 2025, A Taxonomic Revision of Artemisia Subgenus Seriphidium (Asteraceae-Anthemideae) in China, Phytotaxa 686 (1), pp. 1-103 : 51-52

1. Artemisia fulvella Filatova & Ladygina in Filatova (1981: 227) ≡ Seriphidium fulvellum (Filatova & Ladygina) K. Bremer & Humphries ex Ling (1991a: 14) . Type:— KYRGYZSTAN. Naryn Province: 31 km north of Naryn, 30 August 1972, G.M. Ladygina, S.S. Ikonnikov & O. Borissenko 10749 (lectotype designated here: LE00052868!; isolectotypes: LE00052869!, LE00052870!).

Perennial herbs or subshrubs, 45–75 cm tall. Stems few or numerous, erect or slightly curved at the base, branching from the middle part, branches 5–10 cm long, ascending and slightly spreading. Lower stem leaves oblong or elliptic-ovate, 2–3-pinnatisect, 1.5–3 cm long, 0.5–1.5 cm wide, petiole 1–2.5 cm long, with 3–4 segments per side, segments further pinnatisect, lobules narrowly linear, 3–5 mm long, 0.5–1 mm wide, apex acuminate. Middle stem leaves elliptic, 1–2- pinnatisect, 1–2 cm long, 0.5–1.5 cm wide, with linear pseudostipules. Upper stem leaves pinnatisect, with narrowly linear lobules. The grayish-white tomentum on the stems and branches partially sheds at maturity, while the tomentum on all leaves persists and the leaves have a slightly soft texture. Capitula ovoid, 1.5–2 mm long, 1–1.5 mm in diameter. Synflorescence a somewhat spreading panicle. Bisexual florets 3–5, corolla yellow or red.

Notes:—In the protologue of Artemisia fulvella, Filatova (1981) cited the gathering G.M. Ladygina, S.S. Ikonnikov & O. Borissenko 10749 at LE as the type. We have traced three sheets of this gathering at LE. All of them have the information given in the protologue and match perfectly the original description. According to Arts. 9.12 and 9.17 of the ICN ( Turland et al. 2018), sheet LE00052868 has been designated as the lectotype, and the other two sheets as isolectotypes.

Filatova (1981) first recorded the distribution of A. fulvella in Xinjiang, China, without citing voucher specimens. Filatova (2007) later cited four gatherings from Xinjiang at LE: A.M. Fetisov s.n., A. Regel s.n., A.A. Yunatov et al. 1434 and A.A. Yunatov et al. 1698. We have traced one sheet from each of the latter two gatherings, A.A. Yunatov et al. 1434 (LE01297096!) and A.A. Yunatov et al. 1698 (LE01297093!), and identified both as A. nitrosa , not A. fulvella . However, since the voucher specimens for A.M. Fetisov s.n. and A. Regel s.n. are not found, it remains unclear whether A. fulvella is distributed in China.

This species is similar to A. nitrosa in habit and synflorescence type but can be distinguished by its lower leaves with petiole 1–2.5 cm long (vs. 3–7 cm long), 1–2-pinnatisect (vs. 2-pinnatisect) middle stem leaves, and sparsely tomentose (vs. densely tomentose) leaves. Additionally, A. fulvella resembles A. elongata in indumentum, leaf size, and synflorescence type, but it differs by having 1–2-pinnatisect (vs. 2-pinnatisect) middle stem leaves and widely spaced (vs. compact) leaf segments.