Description from Flora of China
Saussurea erecta S. W. Liu, J. T. Pan & J. Quan Liu.
Herbs 2-15(-25) cm tall, biennial or annual, monocarpic. Stem solitary, 2-4 mm in diam., sometimes erect, diffusely branched from base, apically branched or stem almost absent. Rosette leaves petiolate; petiole 0.5-5 cm; leaf blade narrowly oblong-elliptic to linear, 2-14 × 0.3-1.7 cm, pinnately lobed, both surfaces green, abaxially gland-dotted and arachnoid tomentose but glabrescent, adaxially sparsely arachnoid and gland-dotted, apex mucronate; lateral lobes 5-10 pairs, margin dentate or entire. Capitula 8-25, in a corymbiform synflorescence 3-15 cm in diam.; peduncle 0.3-1 cm. Involucre narrowly campanulate, 7-10 mm in diam. Phyllaries in 3 or 4 rows, apically purple, arachnoid, gland-dotted, apex acute and mucronate; outer phyllaries ovate to narrowly ovate-elliptic, 6-9 × 3-3.5 mm, appendage rhombic-spatulate and tridentate; middle and inner phyllaries narrowly ovate-elliptic, 5.5-9 × 1.5-2.5 mm. Receptacle without bristles. Corolla purplish red, rose, or white, 7-11 mm, tube 2.5-5.5 mm, limb 4-5.5 mm, lobes 3-4 mm and gland-dotted. Achene grayish with a dark wavy pattern, obconic, 3-4 mm, wrinkled, with thin long crisp hairs, glabrescent. Pappus white; outer bristles 2-2.5 mm; inner bristles (6-)8-9 mm, basally straw-colored. Fl. and fr. Aug-Sep. 2n = 34*.
Saussurea erecta, described from a single specimen, differs from S. kingii only by its more erect habit and glabrous achenes. Saussurea kingii is variable in growth habit, and glabrous achenes have been observed in some specimens of S. kingii as well. As long as these characters are not found to be stable in a larger population, we regard S. erecta as synonymous with S. kingii.
● Sandy river edges and mountain slopes, sand dunes; 2900-5000 m. Xizang.