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  • Up-to-date information about California vascular plants is available from the Jepson eFlora.

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.

CHRYSOTHAMNUS

RABBITBRUSH

Loran C. Anderson

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 3–5 series (± 5 vertical ranks), free, overlapping, keeled; receptacle naked
Flowers 2–20 (often 5) per head; corollas generally yellow, lobes 0.5–3 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.

Native

C. viscidiflorus (Hook.) Nutt.

YELLOW RABBITBRUSH

Shrub 1–15 dm
Stems generally erect, brittle, white (greener upward)
Leaves 1–7.5 cm, 1–10 mm wide, thread-like to oblong, flat or twisted, (gray-)green, ± sticky
Inflorescence: heads in dense, flat-topped or rounded cymes; involucre 5–10 mm, generally cylindric; phyllaries generally ± lanceolate, in ± 5 vertical ranks, keeled, yellow-green, ± sticky, tips obtuse to acute
Flowers 3–13; corolla 3.5–7.5 mm; style exserted, appendage generally >> stigma
Fruit 3–5 mm, hairy; pappus ± = corolla
Chromosomes: 2n=18, 36,54
Ecology: Sagebrush, pinyon/juniper woodland
Elevation: 900–4000 m.
Bioregional distribution: Klamath Ranges, Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, n Western Transverse Ranges, San Bernardino Mountains, Great Basin Floristic Province, Desert Mountains
Distribution outside California: to s Canada, Montana, New Mexico
Highly variable; 5 subspp. in w US.

Native

subsp. puberulus (D.C. Eaton) H.M. Hall & Clem.

Plant gray-green, densely puberulent
Leaves 1–3 cm, generally 1–2 mm wide, thread-like to ± oblanceolate
Flowers 4–7; corolla 4.5–5.5 mm
Chromosomes: 2n=18,36 (tetraploids larger, lower elevations)
Ecology: Sagebrush, pinyon/juniper, subalpine slopes
Elevation: 1500–3000 m.
Bioregional distribution: Sierra Nevada (e slope), San Bernardino Mountains, Great Basin Floristic Province, Desert Mountains
Distribution outside California: to s Idaho, Utah, n Arizona

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bioregional map for CHRYSOTHAMNUS%20viscidiflorus%20subsp.%20puberulus being generated
 


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