P. denticulata Sm., Exot. Bot. ii. 109. , t. 114.
Section Denticulata
Link to Flora of China description
Link to Flora of Bhutan description
Link to Flora of Pakistan description
Link to Nepal checklist
Type specimen: Buchanan-Hamilton s.n. Chitlong, Nepal resides at LINN (specimen LINN-HS 271.2.2).
P. denticulata subsp. sinodenticulata (Balf.f. & Forrest): W.W.Sm., Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 16: 21. 1928..
P. alta (syn): Type specimen: Forrest 9679 resides at E (specimens E00024113, E00024114) and K (specimen K000732818) and P (specimen P04571345) and US (specimen US00116449).
P. denticulata subsp. alta (Balf.f. & Forrest) (syn): W.W.Sm. & H.R.Fletcher, Trans. Roy. Soc. Edinburgh 61: 473 1946.
P. cyanocephala (syn): Type specimen: Maire s.n. Tong Tchouan resides at E (specimen E00024116).
P. denticulata subsp. cyanocephala (Balf.f.) (syn): W.W.Sm. & H.R.Fletcher, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 16: 21. 1928..
P. limnoica (syn): Type specimen: Forrest 13643 resides at E (specimen E00024433).
P. sinodenticulata (syn): Type specimen: Forrest 1801 resides at E (specimen E00024115).
P. adenophora (syn): Type specimen: Lowndes L4 resides at K (specimen K000750417).
P. aequalis (syn): Type specimen: Cave s.n. Phallut, Sikkim (and syntypes) resides at E (specimen E00024403) and K (specimen K000750312).
P. cachemiriana (syn): Type specimen: Not specified.
P. cashmeriana (syn): Carrière, Rev. Hort. [Paris]. (1880) 330. Type specimen: Not specified.
P. elata (syn): Manuscript name.
P. harsukhii (syn): Type specimen: Harsukh 14894 resides at K (specimen K000750415) and E.
P. hoffmeisteri (syn) Plate: Klotzsch, Bot. Ergebn. Reise Waldemar [Klotzsch & Garcke] 97. 1862. Type specimen: Hoffmeister s.n. Himalaya resides at ?
P. paucifolia (syn): Type specimen: C.B. Clarke 28809, 28816 resides at E (specimens E00024429, E00024428).
P. platycrana (syn): Type specimen: Cult from Cooper 2367 resides at E (specimens E00024431, E00024432).
P. pulcherrima (syn): Hort.
P. telemachica (syn) Plate: Type specimen: Schlagintweit 13085 resides at ?
Epithet: Named for the denticulate (toothed) leaf margin.
Distribution: Across the Himalaya from Afghanistan to Sichuan.
A widely distributed species and variable in size, color and farina but recognizable by the spherical head of flowers. Dwarf forms can be confused with P. atrodentata but are distinguished by the presence of bud basal scales. Distinguised from P. capitata by flowers which are erect within the inflorescence, not pendent. Type material of P. cachemiriana / cashmeriana does not exist but is given to plants which are covered in dense yellow farina. Cytological analysis in 1932 suggested it as a possible hybrid, but as Smith & Fetcher pointed out, it is difficult to name the parents of such a hybrid. Forms of P. denticulata with white farina or efarinose are also found, so that it becomes difficult to elevate this to species status without again splitting P. denticulata into a myriad of species and so I think it is best left as a synonym.
P. denticulata is a finely hairy plant, surrounded at the base by broadly ovate, pointed bud-scales. The leaves are compact at flowering, but elongate markedly with age and appear with the flowers or just after. The leaves are oblong, rounded at the apex, tapering at the base into a broadly winged petiole which is indistinct to nearly the length of the blade, denticulate and often recurved at the margin, finely pubescent above and mostly pubescent-hairy below and with farina potent glands or white or yellow farinose. Scape varies from 5-30cm and more in fruit, and can be farinose in the upper half. Flowers are arranged in a compact head of numerous erect flowers with numerous farinose or efarinose lanceolate bracts, swollen at the base, and with pedicels almost obsolete. Flowers are in shades or pink or purple (occasionally white) with a yellow eye. Capsule is subglobose and shorter than the calyx. See also P. erythrocarpa, P. monticola, P. pseudodenticulata.
