Artemisia leucodes Schrenk (1845: 106)

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 : 56

6. Artemisia leucodes Schrenk (1845: 106) ≡ Seriphidium leucodes (Schrenk) Poljakov (1961b: 175) . Type:— KAZAKHSTAN. Balkhash District: along Ili River, 13 August 1843, Schrenk 166 [lectotype designated by Filatova (1984): LE00054613!; isolectotype: MW 0595087!].

Annual or biennial herbs, 30–70 cm tall. Stems few or numerous, erect, branching from the lower part, branches 5–15 cm long, obliquely upward. Lower stem leaves ovate, 1–2-pinnately tripartite, 3–5 cm long, 2.5–4 cm wide, petiole 3–7 cm long, with 2–4 segments per side, segments further 3-lobed, lobules linear-lanceolate, 5–10 mm long, 1–1.5 mm wide, apex acuminate. Middle stem leaves 1-pinnately tripartite, 1.5–2.5 cm long, 1–2 cm wide, with linear pseudostipules. Upper stem leaves undivided or 3-lobed, with linear-lanceolate lobules. The grayish-white tomentum on the stems partially sheds at maturity, while the tomentum on the branches and leaves persists, and the leaves have a slightly soft texture. Capitula ovoid, 2–3 mm long, 1–2.5 mm in diameter. Synflorescence a spreading panicle. Bisexual florets 4–5, with yellow corollas.

Notes:— Filatova (1984) first recorded the distribution of A. leucodes in Xinjiang, China, without citing any voucher specimens. We have traced specimens of A. leucodes at LE, MW, and P, labeled as collected from China. When examining these specimens, it was found that these specimens were collected by Alexander Gustav von Schrenk from “Songaria”. According to A. G. Schrenk’s expedition records ( Kaavere 1990), these specimens were collected near Lake Balkhash ( Kazakhstan), not from China. Additionally, no specimens of A. leucodes from China were examined in the current study. Therefore, we excluded this species from the flora of China in this study.

This species is easily distinguished from other species in A. subg. Seriphidium by its annual or biennial herbaceous life form, lower leaves palmately trilobed or pinnatifid with petioles 3–7 cm long, middle stem leaves palmately trilobed, and leaves soft and densely covered with grayish-white tomentose.