Blumea densiflora DC., Prodr. 5: 446. 1836; Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 3: 269. 1881. B . densiflora var. excisa C.B. Clarke, Compo Ind. 89. 1876.

Herbs or undershrubs; stems up to 1.8 m tall branched, densely woolly, particularly in younger parts and on inflorescence. Leaves elliptic-oblong to lanceolate-oblong, apiculate, entire or pinnately lobed, Coarsely dentate, 7-40 x 2-10 cm, tomentose on the upper surface, densely lanuginose on the lower, base narrowed into a long winged sometimes appendaged petiole. Heads yellow, in large terminal, compact, leafy panicles, clustered at the ends of branches, 5- 7.5 mm in diam., sessile or with a very small peduncle (only up to 5 mm). Involucral bracts longer than florets, linear, tapering, 1-7 mm long, scarious, pubescent on dorsal surface. Receptacle flat, alveolate, 1.5-2.0 mm in diam., glabrous. Corolla ofbisexual florets yellow, tubular, 3.5 -4.5 mm long, 5-lobed; lobes broadly triangular, papillate, pubescent with colietters and multicellular hairs. Corolla of female florets filiform, 3.5-4.5 mm long, 3 to 4-lobed, glabrous. Achenes broadly oblong, ribbed, pubescent. Pappus reddish, up to 4 mm long, copious.

Fl. & Fr. Nov.- April.

Distrib. India: Himalayas, up to 1500 m. Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Assam.

Bangladesh, Myanmar, Malaya, Campuchea and Fiji Islands.

Notes. B. densiflora is closely related to B. aromatica and B. junghuhniana. However, it differs from both in having woolly indumentum and smaller heads, and corolla lobes of bisexual florets with multicellular hairs. Perhaps it could be a natural hybrid between B. aromatica and B. junghuhniana as several intermediate forms have been reported.