Cirsium tatakaense

Perennial herbs, stems 0.5−1.5 m tall, without rosette leaves. Leaves pinnatipartite or pinnatisect, 27.2−34.8 cm long and 16.4−19.4 cm wide, U-shaped space between pinnae, smooth, elliptic to broadly elliptic, base truncate to cuneate, apex caudate, pinnae 6.4−7.5 cm long and 7.3−11.9 mm wide, space between pinnae 2.9−3.0 cm, 4−6 pairs. Capitula arranged into racemes or panicles, mature capitula nodding, involucre bowl-shaped, 3.9−4.0 cm long and 1.7−2.1 cm wide. Involucre lacking abaxial appendages, inner phyllaries acute apically, outer phyllaries reddish-purple with indistinct layers, 1.1−2.2 cm long and 1.8−2.4 mm wide, protrusion 6.3−13.0 mm. Florets with purplish-red corolla, 3.2−3.3 cm long, corolla lobes 4.3−5.3 mm long and 0.4−0.7 mm wide; 5 synantherous stamens, detached filaments with irregular protuberances, basal caudate extensions, light purple or brown, anthers 6.4−6.8 mm long, filaments 7.1−8.1 mm long. Stigmas bifid apically, style 3.0−3.2 cm long, ovaries 1.7−1.9 mm long. Achenes oblong, base acute, apex truncate, beige, 3.0−3.5 mm long and 1.4−1.6 mm wide, long tube-shaped beak apically. Pappus 1.6−1.8 cm long forming basal ring, easily shed.

Endemic species of Taiwan. Cirsiumtatakaense is located in open areas of cloud forests of vegetation zones from the Quercus to Abies forest zone at alt. 2000−3000 m in central-southern Taiwan (Fig. 3). Based on the geographical climatic regions and vegetation zones (Su 1984, 1985), C.tatakaense is distributed mainly in the central-west inland regions. Cirsiumtatakaense has been discovered in sunny environments, such as roadsides and forest margins, concentrated on the upper portions of hills along Provincial Highway no. 18. Miscanthustransmorrisonensis Andersson (Poaceae), Rubustaitoensis Hayata (Rosaceae) and SenecionemorensisL.var.dentatus (Kitam.) H. Koyama (Compositae) are often discovered with C.tatakaense. Sometimes, C.arisanense Kitam. and C.ferum Kitam. are found near to C.tatakaense; however, no hybrid individual between these species has been observed.