Myriactis nepalensis

Myriactis nepalensis Less., Linnaea 6 128 1831. (Syn: Dichrocephala leveillei Vaniot; Myriactis javanica var. diengensis Hochr.);
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Himalaya to S. China and New Guinea: Assam, China South-Central, China Southeast, East Himalaya, India, Jawa, Myanmar, Nepal, New Guinea, Thailand, Tibet, Vietnam, West Himalaya as per POWO;
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Nepal Myriactis • Nepali: थुके फूल Thuke phool;
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Myriactis nepalensis from Uttarakhand-GS07082023-1: 3 high res. images.
Tabish ji has rightly pointed out the confusion in distribution of Myriactis species in India and our database. The following should help in separating the species:

A. Ray Florets more than 5 seriate, heads 0.7-1.5 cm across, ray florets less than 1 mm long ……… M. nepalensis

AA. Ray florets less than 5 seriate

B. Heads 1-1.5 cm across, rays florets 2-4 mm long… M. javanica

BB. Heads 3-8 mm across

C. Ray florets less than 1 mm long ……….. M. wallichii

CC. Ray florets 2.5-3 mm long ………….. M. wightii
CCC. Ray florets 7-8 mm long …………. M. assamensis

1. M. nepalensis: leaves mostly broadly ovate; ray florets more than 5-seriate, ray florets elliptic less than 1 mm long- Eastern Himalayas, Western Himalayas, Nepal, other parts of India from 1300 to 3000 m alt.

2. M. wallichii: Leaves elliptic to lanceolate, uppermost linear; ray florets less than 5-seriate, elliptic-linear less than 1 mm long- Temperate Himalayas 2500-4000 m alt. Western Himalayas, Eastern Himalayas, Nepal, Sikkim.

3. M. wightii : Leaves ovate, lower often lyrate: ray florets 2 seriate, 2.5-3 mm long- South and Central India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Western Himalayas.

4. M. javanica : Leaves elliptic-obovate; heads 1-1.5 cm across, ray florets 3-4 seriate, 2-4 mm long-Western Himalayas, J & K, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh. (synonym of M. wightii according to POWO).

5. M. assamensis: Leaves linear-oblanceolate; heads 3-4 mm across; ray florets 2-3 seriate, 7-8 mm long- Endemic to Meghalaya and Nagaland.
Sharing M. nepalensis from Budher Caves road and Deovan Herbal Garden, Uttarakhand.

Thanks a lot, …, for showing us Myriactis nepalensis.
We do not have anything like this in our database.

Yes …, smaller ray florets in more than 5 series, which may sometimes give the illusion of longer rays. We have now to be on look out for M. wallichii which has similar shorter ray florets in fewer series and narrower leaves.

I think it is already there in FOI:
http://www.flowersofindia.Wallich’s%20Myriactis.html

No …, that is again M. wightii

Does it not have shorter (less than 1 mm long) ray florets with 2-4 series?

I think you are right

This is great! I think it does look like Myriactis nepalensis. I only wish the flower-heads were in sharper focus.

Meanwhile, regarding … comment on the size of the flower-heads of the Myriactis species, I think the size are not very different. I am attaching two pics for comparison. We have developed the good habit of clicking at least one pic with a finger or something else, so that we can get an idea of size later by looking at the pic.
Regarding Myriactis javanica, POWO put it as a synonym of Myriactis wightii var. wightii. The other variety (Myriactis wightii var. bellidioides) is native to Tamil Nadu.

I had missed the additional two images posted by … – now I saw them! So, finally we have the real Myriactis nepalensis with us!

Here is a closeup of the flower-head of Myriactis nepalensis from Dhanaulti, Uttarakhand, by Thingnam Girija.

Wow!!! Great!!!

Transition from white to pink florets is visible in these two pics.

Oh!!! I did not notice that earlier.

Great work … You really forced us to relook at our pictures. We now have M. nepalensis at least from two places.

since you found Myriactis nepalensis at low altitudes, my thought was that we have been exploring Western Himalaya year after year, and it was unbelievable for me that we would not have encountered it. And with a hawk’s eye like Girija’s with us in all our trips, if it was there, we wouldn’t have missed it. With this thought I rummaged through the photographs of our various trips, and finally found it!
It is a nice feeling that we have finally sorted out this much misunderstood species.
Cheers to the joint effort!

And not a single one from Nepal

That was also my thought!

it is now your job to locate it from its native place. Just concentrate on multiple series of ligules and its corolla not longer than 1 mm.

Yes … ! Need to explore !