| 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.
Biennial, coarse
Stem spiny-winged
Leaves basal and cauline, alternate, dentate to deeply pinnately lobed, very spiny
Inflorescence: heads discoid, 1–7, in cymes, in CA; involucre 3–7 cm diam, (hemi)spheric; phyllaries many, in several series, spine-tipped, outer generally spreading or reflexed; receptacle naked, deeply pitted
Flowers many; corollas (nearly) radial, white to purple, tube slender, lobes linear; anther base acutely tailed, tips awl-shaped; style tip with minutely hairy node, terminal appendage subentire, long, cylindric, minutely papillate
Fruit ± cylindric, 4–5-angled, glabrous, generally ± cross-roughened, brown to gray-black, mottled; pappus bristles many, barbed or plumose, fused at base
Species in genus: ± 40 species: Eurasia, Medit
Etymology: (Greek: name for cotton thistle)
Weedy.
| Introduced |
Plant < 30 dm, canescent-tomentose
Leaves 1–5 dm, dentate to shallowly lobed (lobes 8–10 pairs, widely triangular)
Inflorescence: phyllaries linear, puberulent, ± cobwebby-tomentose, spines < 5 mm
Flowers: corollas 20–25 mm, purple or white, glabrous
Fruit 4–5 mm; pappus 7–9 mm, pink to reddish
Chromosomes: 2n=34
Ecology: Disturbed sites
Elevation: < 1600 m.
Bioregional distribution: Northwestern California, Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, San Joaquin Valley, Central Western California, Southwestern California, Modoc Plateau
Distribution outside California: native to Europe