TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL (1993) |
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©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California
For up-to-date information about California vascular plants, visit the Jepson eFlora. |
AND IS MAINTAINED FOR ARCHIVAL PURPOSES ONLY |
Annual to tree
Leaves basal or cauline, alternate to whorled, simple to compound
Inflorescence: 1° inflorescence a head, each resembling a flower, 1many, generally arrayed in cymes, generally subtended by ± calyx-like involucre; flowers 1many 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)45; stamens 45, 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):128. See glossary p. 25 for illustrations of general family characteristics.
Species in genus: 1 sp
Etymology: (Greek: feathery bristle, from pappus)
Native |
Annual, short-lived perennial herb 525 cm, generally ± tomentose
Stems 1several from base
Leaves simple, basal and cauline, alternate or subopposite, mostly clustered in lower half of plant, 13 cm, sessile or tapered to a short, winged petiole; blade acute, sharply dentate or shallowly lobed, densely tomentose, resin-dotted
Inflorescence: heads discoid, solitary; peduncles 311 cm, slender, bractless, glandular-puberulent; involucre 612 mm diam, hemispheric or bell-shaped, often appearing ± disk-like when pressed; phyllaries in 2 ± equal series, free, 57 mm, linear-elliptic, acute; receptacle rounded, naked
Flowers many; corollas 4.57 mm, yellow, outermost sometimes enlarged and ± bilateral; style-tips truncate
Fruit 23 mm, obpyramidal, glabrous to densely strigose; pappus of 5 scales, each 57 mm, dissected into many bristles
Chromosomes: 2n=26
Ecology: Dry slopes, plains
Elevation: < 1000 m.
Bioregional distribution: s Mojave Desert, Sonoran Desert
Distribution outside California: s Nevada, sw Arizona, n Baja California
Flowering time: FebMay, OctNov
Horticultural information: TRY.