| 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, 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.
Perennial
Stems erect or decumbent, branched
Leaves alternate, entire to pinnately lobed
Inflorescence: heads radiate, solitary, long-peduncled; phyllaries overlapping in several series; receptacle flat, pitted, generally bristly
Ray flowers 15–25; ligules yellow
Disk flowers many; corolla purple or brown; stamen tips ovate-triangular, bases minutely sagittate; style slender below, thickened above a minutely hairy node, branches very short
Fruit obovoid, generally hairy; pappus of 2 rows of overlapping scales
Species in genus: ± 100 species: s Africa
Etymology: (Greek: bear's ear, from shape of pappus scales)
Reference: [Norlindh 1964 Svensk Bot Tidskr 58:194–203]
| Introduced |
Stems stout, 7.5–10 dm, densely white-woolly
Leaves: blade 1–4 cm, obovate to oblong, generally fiddle-shaped, pinnately lobed, lobes entire or irregularly toothed, white-woolly when young, less so later
Inflorescence: heads < 8 cm diam; peduncles generally > leaves
Ray flowers ± 20; ligules < 3 cm, white above, violet below
Disk flowers: corollas violet
Fruit 2–3 mm, obovoid, 3–5-ridged, with 2–3 cavities on one side; base with many straight hairs > achene; inner row of pappus scales > achene and its hairs, outer scales < achene
Chromosomes: 2n=18
Ecology: Uncommon. Escape from cultivated in urban coastal areas, waste ground, roadsides
Elevation: < 300 m.
Bioregional distribution: South Coast
Distribution outside California: native to s Africa
Synonyms: var. grandis (Thunb.) Less