Artemisia lehmanniana Bunge (1851: 340)

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 : 52

2. Artemisia lehmanniana Bunge (1851: 340) ≡ Seriphidium lehmannianum (Bunge) Poljakov (1961b: 175) . Type:— TAJIKISTAN. Sughd province: Zeravshan range (Karatau), 12 September 1841, A. Lehman 665 [lectotype designated by Filatova (1982): LE00052849!; isolectotype: P00852300!].

Subshrubs, 20–45 cm tall. Stems few or numerous, erect or slightly curved at the base, branching from the upper part, branches 1–3 cm long, closely appressed to the stem. Lower stem leaves nearly round or oblong, 3–4-pinnatisect, 2–3 cm long, 1.5–2.5 cm wide, petiole 1–2 cm long, with 3–6 segments per side, segments further 2-3-pinnatisect, lobules narrowly linear, 3–5 mm long, 0.5–0.8 mm wide, apex acuminate. Middle stem leaves round or oblong, 3-pinnatisect, 1–2.5 cm long, 1–2 cm wide, petiole 0.5–1 cm long, with pinnatifid pseudostipules. Upper stem leaves 2-pinnatisect, with narrowly linear lobules. The grayish-green tomentum on the stems and branches almost completely sheds at maturity, while the tomentum on all leaves persists and the leaves have a slightly soft texture. Capitula ovoid, 2.5–3 mm long, 1.5–2 mm in diameter. Synflorescence a narrow panicle, branches very short with densely crowded capitula. Phyllaries in 4–5 layers, outer phyllaries small, ovoid, middle phyllaries oblong-ovoid, inner phyllaries membranous. Bisexual florets 4–8, corolla red.

Notes:—In the protologue of Artemisia lehmanniana, Bunge (1851) cited the gathering “in der Alpenregion des Berges Karatau bei Samarkand, 12 September 1841 ”. Filatova (1982) later designated the gathering A. Lehman 665 at LE as the type. Podlech (1986), possibly unaware of Filatova’s (1982) lectotypification, also designated the gathering A. Lehman 665 at P as the type. We have traced one sheet of this gathering at both LE and P. Both sheets have the information given in the protologue and perfectly match the original description. According to Arts. 7.10 and 7.11 of the ICN ( Turland et al. 2018), Filatova’s (1982) lectotypification should be followed. Therefore, sheet LE00052849 has been considered as the lectotype, and the other sheet at P as the isolectotype.

Bondarenko & Butkov (1962) first recorded that A. lehmanniana was distributed in Xinjiang, China, while Filatova (1982) reported its distribution in Xizang, China. Neither of them mentioned the voucher specimens. In China, Ling (1988) first reported that this species was distributed in northern Xinjiang, and it was later included in the Flora Reipublicae Popularis Sinicae ( Ling 1991b), Flora Xinjiangensis ( Wei 1999), and Flora of China ( Ling et al. 2011). When examining specimens from China identified by Y.R. Ling as A. lehmanniana , it was determined that they were A. neolehmanniana , misidentified as A. lehmanniana . Since the specimens cited by Bondarenko & Butkov (1962) and Filatova (1982) could not be examined, it remains unclear whether A. lehmanniana is truly distributed in China.

This species is easily distinguished from other species in A. subg. Seriphidium by its nearly round lower leaves, which are 3–4-pinnatisect, with narrowly linear lobules, and 3-pinnatisect middle stem leaves.