Ixeris polycephala Cass.

Herbs 10-50 cm tall, annual. Stem solitary, erect, branched already in lower half or higher up, glabrous, leafy. Basal leaves present at anthesis, narrowly oblanceolate, lanceolate, linear-lanceolate, or linear, 6-22 × 0.3-1.5 cm, undivided or pinnatipartite to pinnatisect or runcinately so, base attenuate into a well-developed petiole-like portion and ± semiamplexicaul, margin entire or dentate, apex acute; lateral lobes (if present) 2-5 pairs, on leaf blade basal 1/2-2/3. Stem leaves lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, smaller, rather undivided, base strongly sagittately clasping, margin mostly entire, otherwise similar to basal leaves. Synflorescence corymbiform, with few to some capitula. Capitula with 20-25 florets; peduncle capillaceous. Involucre cylindric and 5-6 × 2-3 mm at anthesis, broadly campanulate and 7-8 × 4-5 mm in fruit. Phyllaries abaxially glabrous; outer phyllaries 4-6, ovate, longest less than 1 mm, apex acute; inner phyllaries 8, apex acute to obtuse. Florets yellow or rarely white. Anther tube and style greenish to blackish upon drying. Achene brown to reddish brown, ellipsoid, ca. 4 mm, apex contracted into a slender 1-1.5 mm beak. Pappus ca. 4 mm. Fl. and fr. Feb-Oct. 2n = 16.

It is a temperate and subtropical plant. It grows on the edges of forests and along streams between 100-2,000 m above sea level. In Sichuan and Yunnan.

The young leaves are blanched before eating. They are used in salads.

Can be grown by seedlings.