| TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL (1993) |
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Jepson Interchange (more information) |
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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.
Species in genus: 1 sp
Etymology: (Greek: mountain Chaenactis )
| Native |
Annual 1–25 cm, short-hairy to ± tomentose and glandular
Stems spreading to erect, simple or ± branched, very slender
Leaves opposite below, alternate above, simple, 1–4 cm, linear to narrowly oblong-oblanceolate, entire
Inflorescence: heads discoid, very small, sessile in small, leafy-bracted clusters at stem tips; involucre cylindric; phyllaries 4–7 in 1 series, 3–6 mm, free, oblong, ± purple; receptacle naked
Flowers 4–9; corollas 3–5 mm, yellow, lobes short-triangular; anther tips short-triangular; style tips tapered
Fruit 2.5–4 mm, club-shaped, ribbed, minutely puberulent; pappus of 11–17 scales, 1.5–2.5 mm, oblanceolate, obtuse, fringed, deciduous together in a ring
Chromosomes: 2n=18
Ecology: Open forests, dry meadows, gravelly slopes
Elevation: 2200–3800 m.
Bioregional distribution: s High Sierra Nevada.