Jepson Interchange (more information)
Print edition is available from the University of California Press
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This page is based on the 1993 Jepson Manual.
Please see the Jepson eFlora for up-to-date information about California vascular plants. |
| Jepson Flora Project: Jepson Interchange |
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TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL |
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Jepson Interchange (more information) |
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©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California
Print edition is available from the University of California Press |
| The second edition of The Jepson Manual (2012) is available from the University of California Press | |
| See also the Jepson eFlora, which parallels the Second Edition |
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.
Annual to perennial herb (sometimes short-lived, dying after flowering once)
Stem generally erect
Leaves: lower generally tapered or petioled, often wavy-margined, generally pinnately lobed, ± dentate, lobes and teeth spine-tipped, margin generally spiny-ciliate, glabrous to tomentose; upper generally sessile, ± reduced
Inflorescence: heads discoid, 1–many; involucre cylindric to spheric; phyllaries many, graduated in several series, outer spine-tipped; receptacle flat, long-bristly
Flowers generally many; corollas ± bilateral, white to red or purple, tube long, slender, lobes linear; anther bases sharply sagittate, tips oblong; style tip with slightly swollen node, appendage (above node) long, cylindric, branches very short
Fruit ovoid, glabrous; scar slightly angled; pappus bristles many, plumose, ± persistent or falling in ring
Species in genus: ± 200 species: North America, Eurasia
Etymology: (Greek: thistle)
Taxa difficult, incompletely differentiated, hybridize.
| Native |
Biennial (or short-lived perennial herb) 5–25 dm
Stem generally 1, generally simple below, openly branched above, ± white-tomentose
Leaves ± densely tomentose, lighter below; lower 1.5–6 dm, spiny-petioled, elliptic to oblanceolate, toothed to deeply lobed, lobes generally rigidly spreading, simple or with 1–2 pairs of coarse teeth or 2° lobes, main spines 3–20 mm; middle and upper smaller, narrower, decurrent as spiny wings, upper much reduced, often long-acuminate, generally very spiny, spines 4–25 mm
Inflorescence: heads in loose to crowded cyme- or panicle-like clusters (sometimes on short axillary branches); peduncles leafy, 0–10 cm; involucres 1.5–2.5 cm, 1.5–2 cm diam, ± ovoid, ± loosely tomentose, becoming glabrous; phyllaries strongly graduated (outer ovate, inner oblong), entire, tightly appressed, midribs of middle often with glandular area, spines 3–7 mm, ascending or spreading, inner with erect, ± twisted flat tips
Flowers: corollas 16–25 mm, white to lavender or pink, tube 7–11 mm, throat 4–7 mm, lobes 4–8 mm
Fruit 3.5–6 mm, straw-colored to brown, generally not compressed; pappus ± 15 mm
Chromosomes: 2n=30,32
Ecology: Damp soil around springs, canyons, streams, ditches
Elevation: 400–2800 m.
Bioregional distribution: East of Sierra Nevada, Mojave Desert
Distribution outside California: Nevada
Flowering time: Jul–Oct
Related to C. douglasii and C. hydrophilum.
| YOU CAN HELP US make sure that our distributional information is correct and current. If you know that a plant occurs in a wild, reproducing state in a Jepson bioregion NOT highlighted on the map, please contact us with that information. Please realize that we cannot incorporate range extensions without access to a voucher specimen, which should (ultimately) be deposited in an herbarium. You can send the pressed, dried collection (with complete locality information indicated) to us (e-mail us for details) or refer us to an accessioned herbarium specimen. Non-occurrence of a plant in an indicated area is difficult to document, but we will especially value your input on those types of possible errors (see automatic conversion of distribution data to maps). |
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