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	©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California Print edition is available from the University of California Press

	The second edition of The Jepson Manual (2012) is available from the University of California Press
	See also the Jepson eFlora, which parallels the Second Edition

ASTERACEAE

SUNFLOWER FAMILY

David J. Keil, Family Editor and author, except as specified

Annual to tree
Leaves basal or cauline, alternate to whorled, simple to compound
Inflorescence: 1° inflorescence a head, each resembling a flower, 1–many, generally arrayed in cymes, generally subtended by ± calyx-like involucre; flowers 1–many per head
Flowers bisexual, unisexual, or sterile, ± small, of several types; calyx 0 or modified into pappus of bristles, scales, or awns, which is generally persistent in fruit; corolla radial or bilateral (rarely 0), lobes generally (0)4–5; stamens 4–5, anthers generally fused into cylinder around style, often appendaged at tips, bases, or both, filaments generally free, generally attached to corolla near throat; pistil 1, ovary inferior, 1-chambered, 1-seeded, style 1, branches 2, generally hair-tufted at tip, stigmas 2, generally on inside of style branches
Fruit: achene, cylindric to ovoid, generally deciduous with pappus attached
Genera in family: ± 1300 genera, 21,000 species (largest family of dicots): worldwide. Largest family in CA. Also see tribal key to CA genera: Strother 1997 Madroño 44(1):1–28. See glossary p. 25 for illustrations of general family characteristics.

LESSINGIA

Meredith A. Lane

Annual, perennial herb, subshrubs, decumbent to erect, taprooted
Stems simple or branched from base or above
Leaves simple, entire to pinnately lobed; basal petioled, ovate to spoon-shaped; cauline reduced upward, sessile, (ob)lanceolate to (ob)ovate
Inflorescence: heads radiate or discoid, terminal, solitary or clustered; involucres hemispheric, bell-shaped, obconic, or cylindric; phyllaries in 4–9 series, thin to tough but flexible, tips green or tinged purplish; receptacle concave, naked, shallowly pitted
Ray flowers present or 0, fertile or sterile; corollas yellow or white to purple
Disk flowers generally fertile (except L. occidentalis); corollas yellow, violet, purple, pink, or white, funnel-shaped to cylindric, marginal ones in rayless heads often enlarged and bilateral, deeply lobed on inner side, lobes spreading from head center; style appendages flat, triangular, awl-shaped, or cusped
Fruit obconic, mottled purple-brown; hairs dense, appressed, silky; pappus 0 in ray flowers, in disk flowers of many bristles, these free or fused at base, or fused throughout into awns, white, tan, or red-brown
Species in genus: 14 species: CA; NV, AZ, n Baja CA
Etymology: (C.F. Lessing, 1809–1862, German specialist in Asteraceae)
Incl CA sp. previously treated in Benitoa and Corethrogyne.

Native

L. nemaclada Greene

Annual; herbage with sessile and nail-shaped glands, persistently tomentose on upper surface of cauline leaves
Stems erect, 0.5–6 dm; branches > main stem
Leaves: basal deciduous, < 7 cm, toothed; cauline 0.2–2 cm, reduced upwards, lanceolate, entire
Inflorescence: heads discoid, solitary, or rarely in 3–4-headed clusters; involucres 5–6 mm, very narrowly obconic; phyllaries lanceolate, glabrous, with sessile and nail-shaped glands
Ray flowers 0
Disk flowers 3–10; corollas funnel-shaped, white, pale pink, or lavender; style branches 0.8–2 mm, appendages 0.45–0.9 mm, without abrupt point
Fruit 3–4 mm; pappus of many bristles, somewhat fused at base, or of 5 awns, white or tannish white
Chromosomes: 2n=10,12
Ecology: Open fields, gravelly roadcuts and borders of woodlands
Elevation: 200–1100 m.
Bioregional distribution: Northwestern California, Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, Great Central Valley, San Francisco Bay Area, Inner South Coast Ranges
Synonyms: var. albiflora (Eastw.) J.T. Howell
Horticultural information: DRN, SUN: 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24.