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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.

STEPHANOMERIA

G. Ledyard Stebbins

Annual to shrubs, glabrous or hairy; sap milky
Stems branched, 0.5–3 m
Leaves cauline or some basal, alternate
Inflorescence: heads ligulate; involucre cylindric; phyllaries in 2–several series; receptacle naked
Flowers few–many; ligules lavender, pink, or whitish, readily withering
Fruit linear, club-shaped, or oblong; pappus generally of 9–30 stiff, plumose bristles
Species in genus: 24 species: w North America
Etymology: (Greek: wreath division)
Reference: [Gottlieb 1972 Madroño 21:463–481]
Annual, tap-rooted, rosette-forming species highly variable and complexly interrelated.

Native

S. pauciflora (Torr.) A. Nelson

WIRE-LETTUCE

Perennial or subshrub, 3–6 dm, glabrous or densely short-tomentose
Stems: branches many, ± stout, rigid
Leaves: cauline often reduced to scales
Inflorescence: heads at tips of side branches; peduncles 1–13 mm (or 0 above); involucre 8–10 mm; outer phyllaries << inner, appressed or spreading; inner phyllaries 5
Flowers 3–5; ligules lavender-pink
Fruit 3–4 mm; pappus plumose but not to base, pale brownish
Chromosomes: 2n=16
Ecology: Dry flats, deserts
Elevation: < 2400 m.
Bioregional distribution: s High Sierra Nevada, Tehachapi Mountain Area, San Joaquin Valley, Inner South Coast Ranges, Transverse Ranges, East of Sierra Nevada, Desert
Distribution outside California: to Utah, Texas, nw Mexico; also in Kansas

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