Artemisia thomsoniana (C.B. Clarke) Filatova (1986: 239)

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 : 57

9. Artemisia thomsoniana (C.B. Clarke) Filatova (1986: 239) ≡ Artemisia maritima var. thomsoniana Clarke (1876: 160) ≡ Seriphidium thomsonianum (C.B. Clarke) Ling & Y.R. Ling in Ling (1980: 513). Type:— AFGHANISTAN, without precise location, s.d., Griffith 3198 (lectotype designated here: K001325413!).

Subshrubs, 15–25 cm tall. Stems few or numerous, erect or slightly curved at the base, branching from the middle part, branches 2–8 cm long, obliquely upward. Lower stem leaves ovate, 2–3-pinnatisect, 2–3.5 cm long, 2–3 cm wide, petiole 0.5–1 cm long, with 3–5 segments per side, segments further pinnatisect, lobules narrowly linear, 2–4 mm long, 0.5–1 mm wide, apex acuminate. Middle stem leaves 2–3-pinnatisect, 1.5–2 cm long, 1–1.5 cm wide, with pinnatifid pseudostipules. Upper stem leaves pinnatisect or 3–5-lobed, with linear 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 nearly spherical, 2.5–3 mm long, 2–2.5 mm in diameter. Synflorescence a narrow, spike-like panicle. Bisexual florets 6–10, with yellow or red corollas.

Notes:—In the protologue of Artemisia maritima var. thomsoniana, Clarke (1876) cited two gathering: Griffith 3198 collected from Afghanistan and stored at K and Stoliczka s.n. collected from Tibet. We have traced one sheet of this gathering Griffith 3198 at K. The sheet has the information given in the protologue and match perfectly the original description. According to Arts. 9.3, 9.11 and 9.12 of the ICN ( Turland et al. 2018), sheet K001325413 has been designated as the lectotype.

In China, Ling (1980) first recorded the distribution of A. thomsoniana in western Xizang based on earlier literature, including Clarke (1876). This species was later included in Flora Xizang (Ling 1985), Flora Reipublicae Popularis Sinicae (Ling 1991) and Flora of China ( Ling et al. 2011). However, according to Stoliczka’s exploration records ( Ball 1886), the gathering Stoliczka s.n., cited by Clarke (1876), was collected not from Tibet, China, but from Ladakh, India. Due to insufficient textual research, Ling (1980) mistakenly believed that this species was distributed in Xizang. Moreover, no specimens of A. thomsoniana from China were examined in the current study. Therefore, we excluded this species from the flora of China.

Artemisia thomsoniana is currently known only from its type specimen. After examining the type, it was found that this species is similar to A. lehmanniana and A. leucotricha Krascheninnikov & Ladygina (1965: 246) in habit, stem height, leaf size, branch length and position, and inflorescence type, with overlapping distributions. However, due to the lack of more detailed information, the taxonomic status of this species requires further investigation.