TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL (1993) |
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©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California
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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.
Perennial to shrub
Stems erect, often densely clustered
Leaves alternate, sessile, entire
Inflorescence: heads discoid, arrayed in ± dense cymes, peduncled or subsessile; involucre generally cylindric; phyllaries generally in 35 series (± 5 vertical ranks), free, overlapping, keeled; receptacle naked
Flowers 220 (often 5) per head; corollas generally yellow, lobes 0.53 mm, generally spreading; style branches long, slender, generally exserted
Fruit narrowly cylindric, ± 5-ridged, generally light brown; pappus of many white to brownish bristles
Species in genus: 16 species: sw Can to n Mex
Etymology: (Greek: golden shrub)
Closely related to (perhaps part of) Ericameria.