| 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. |
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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, 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.
Shrubs
Stems ± tomentose
Leaves alternate and generally clustered in axils, linear to (ob)lanceolate, sometimes persisting as stiff spines, glabrous to tomentose
Inflorescence: heads discoid, axillary or in ± rounded, terminal clusters; involucre cylindric to hemispheric; phyllaries in 1–2 ± equal series, often keeled; receptacle naked
Disk flowers generally 4–8; corollas cream to yellow, lobes long, spreading; anther bases ± sagittate, tips obtuse or acute; style branches papillate to short-bristly, tips truncate to conic
Fruit obconic or fusiform, often angled; pappus 0 or of generally many bristles or slender scales
Species in genus: 10 species: w North America
Etymology: (Greek: 4 together, from 4-flowered heads of some)
Reference: [Strother 1974 Brittonia 26:177–202]
Esp flower buds TOXIC to sheep (toxicity poorly understood) .
| Native |
Plant < 20 dm, unarmed
Stems tomentose
Leaves sparsely tomentose; main leaves 1–4 cm, linear, thread-like, soft; clustered leaves 10–20 mm, thread-like to linear-oblanceolate
Inflorescence: heads generally 4–6 on short side branches; peduncles generally 1–3 mm, tomentose, bracts 0–2; involucre 8–9 mm, obconic; phyllaries 4(5), widely elliptic
Flowers 4(5); corollas ± 8 mm, pale yellow
Fruit 5–6 mm, densely long-soft-hairy; pappus of ± 20 stiff bristles or slender scales, 3–5 mm, ± hidden by fruit hairs
Chromosomes: 2n=60
Ecology: Dunes, deep sand, sagebrush scrub
Elevation: 1200–2100 m.
Bioregional distribution: n East of Sierra Nevada
Distribution outside California: w Nevada