Cirsium shansiense Petrak in Mitt. Thuring. Bot. Ver. n. f. 1: 176. 1943. Cnicus sinensis (chinense) (Gard. et Champ.) C.B. Clarke, Comp. Ind. 219. 1876; Hook.f., Pl. Brit. India 3: 364. 1881.

Herbs, 1 - 2 m tall, stiff, glabrous or slightly pubescent, fastigiately branched above; branches slender, erect. Leaves many, linear oblong or lanceolate, 5 - 12.5 cm long, narrow, sinuate lobed; lobes bearing 2 - 3 spines spinulose at sinus, ciliate and spinescent, smooth or scaberulous above, of smaller leaves recurved at margins, sessile. Heads solitary, ca 2.5 cm across, glabrous or cottony. Involucral bracts very numerous, appressed; outer oblong, obtuse or tips spinulose; inner linear with inflexed, acute tips. Corolla purple ca 1.6 cm long. Achenes ca 4 mm long. Pappus ca 8 mm long.

Fl. & Fr. June - Aug.

Distrib. India: Meghalaya.

Myanmar and China.