| 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.
Annual to shrub, monoecious
Leaves often opposite below, generally alternate above, generally petioled, hairy, glandular
Inflorescence: staminate heads generally many in ± spikes or racemes, phyllaries fused into shallow cup; pistillate heads generally clustered below staminate, generally spiny, bur-like; involucre ± 0; receptacle chaffy; chaff scales spirally arrayed, fused below, tips generally becoming spiny; each pistillate flower in separate chamber
Staminate flowers ± many; corolla yellow or translucent; anthers free; style unbranched
Pistillate flowers 1–5; corolla 0; style branches long
Fruit enclosed in bur; pappus 0
Etymology: (Greek: early name for aromatic plants; the mythic food of the gods)
[Payne 1976 Plant Syst Evol 125:169–178] Closely related to (indistinct from) Hymenoclea [Miao et al. 1995 Amer J Bot 82:924–932; Baldwin et al. 1996 Madroño 43:15–27] Wind-blown pollen often highly allergenic.
| Native |
Perennial < 5 dm, from rhizome-like roots, generally few-branched
Stems green to straw-colored, densely short-hairy
Leaves: petioles with lobed wings; blades 3–13 cm, lanceolate to widely ovate, 2–4-pinnate, softly gray-white-hairy
Inflorescence: staminate heads 3–5 mm diam, involucre lobes 5–8, obscure, widely obtuse; pistillate heads 1-flowered
Fruit: burs < 2 mm, obovoid, ± brown, puberulent; spines (0)1–5, vestigial, scattered
Chromosomes: 2n=36
Ecology: Disturbed sites
Elevation: < 150 m.
Bioregional distribution: s South Coast (Riverside and San Diego cos.)
Distribution outside California: Baja California