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, 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.
Annual to perennial herb (subshrub)
Stems generally erect
Leaves alternate, generally entire
Inflorescence: heads generally radiate, 1many in loose, panicle-like or flat-topped clusters; involucre hemispheric; phyllaries narrowly lanceolate, in 2several equal to strongly graded series; receptacle flat to steeply conic, naked, smooth to shallowly pitted
Ray flowers (0) generally 10many; ligules generally white, pink, or blue (yellow)
Disk flowers many; corollas generally narrowly funnel-shaped, yellow; style tips 0.10.8 mm, ± triangular
Fruit 0.53 mm, generally ± oblong, compressed to ± cylindric, generally 2-ribbed, generally sparsely hairy; pappus (0) generally of 650 longer, inner bristles and shorter outer bristles, narrow scales, or short crown
Species in genus: ± 375 species: wordwide
Etymology: (Greek: early old age)
Reference: [Nesom 1992 Phytologia 72:157208]
Native |
Perennial 835 cm, from woody taproot and thick-branched caudex, cespitose, 04-branched below mid-stem, stiffly spreading- or reflexed-hairy, minutely stalked-glandular
Leaves: basal erect, crowded, 28 cm, linear to oblanceolate; cauline gradually reduced
Inflorescence flat-topped; heads 914 mm diam; phyllaries ± equal
Ray flowers 40115; corollas 812 mm, ligules blue to white or pink, reflexed, sometimes weakly coiled
Disk flowers: corollas abruptly wider at throat
Fruit: pappus bristles 1216, outer series inconspicuous scales
Chromosomes: 2n=18, 36
Ecology: Open slopes, meadows
Elevation: 12001800 m.
Bioregional distribution: Cascade Range, n High Sierra Nevada, Modoc Plateau, White and Inyo Mountains
Distribution outside California: to British Columbia, Montana, Wyoming, Utah
Flowering time: MayAug
Var. pumilus on e side Rocky Mtns
Horticultural information: TRY.