Habit: Perennial herb, rhizomed.
Leaf: many, sessile, linear [to lanceolate], entire; veins 1--7, parallel.
Inflorescence: head-like, on unbranched, scapose peduncle; involucre sheathing, recurved; bracts subtending individual flowers.
Flower: calyx 10-ribbed; styles fused at base, hairy.
Species In Genus: +- 50 species: North America, Europe, Mediterranean, southern South America.
Etymology: (Latin, from Old French: name for a dianthus with spheric heads)
Jepson eFlora Author: Robert E. Preston & Elizabeth McClintock
Reference: Fuertes Aguilar & Nieto Feliner 2003 Molec Phylogen Evol 28:430--447
Unabridged Reference: Lefebre & Vekemans 1995 Canad J Bot 73:1583--1595; Porsild 1955 Natl Mus Canada Bull 135:170--174Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)
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