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 Leaves ASU Vascular Plant Herbarium, Usage Rights: CC BY-NC (Attribution-Non-Commercial) |  Bracts Max Licher @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) |  Plants Max Licher @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) | | | |
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Origin:
Native
Life Cycle:
Perennial Similar Species: Symphyotrichum pilosum var. pilosum, S. falcatum
General Desc:
Erect, bushy plant forming large patches. Stems hairy, much branched above, covered in small, grayish-green, needle-like leaves. Small often white, daisy-like flower heads with yellow centers grow in profusion in spreading, often 1-sided dense clusters.
Identification notes: Stems sparsely to densely hairy, can be smooth at base; flower head bracts spine-tipped, short haired on back; disc flowers yellow; ray flowers narrow, usually white, sometimes purplish or pinkish-tinged, usually in only 1 series.
Height:
To 3 feet
Habitat Description: Open, dry to moist, well drained, sandy or gravelly, disturbed soils, prairies, glades, dunes, fields, shores, railroad rights-of-way, roadsides.
Plant Communities:
Desert Scrub, Interior Chaparral, Semidesert Grasslands, Pinyon Juniper Woodland, Montane Conifer Forest, Disturbed Areas
Elevation: 100 - 7200 feet
Color:
White to purplish or pink-tinged
Shape:
Daisy or dandelion-like in elongated clusters
Tubular:
N
Flowering Period:
Aug - Oct
Description:
Flower heads are 1/3 to 1/2 inch wide with an outer row of 8 to 20 white (at times purplish or pinkish-tinged) strap-shaped ray florets surrounding a center of 4 to 15 yellow tube-like disc florets. Leaf-like bracts below the flower head have spiny tips.
Leaf Color:
Grayish-green
Leaf Type:
Simple
Leaf Shape:
Narrow
Leaf Margin:
Smooth
Leaf Attachment:
Alternate
Leaves Clasp:
N
Hairs:
Leaves and stems
Spines:
Y
Leaf Description:
Hairy branches are single or multiple from the base; leaves needle-like, to 2 inches long, about 1/4 inch wide, stemless, hairless to sparsely hairy and becoming smaller towards the top of the plant. Uppermost leaves have a short spine at the tip.
Fruit Color: Deep purple, ages brown
Fruit Type: Achene
Fruit Notes: Fruit is dry, egg-like to oblong in shape, may be hooked or curved like a sickle and has 7 to 9 slightly visible veins on its surface. It is covered with fine, silky hairs to dense, stiff, slender bristles which aid in wind dispersal.
Seed Notes: Seeds are tiny, less than 1/16 inch, dark brown with a very narrow oblong shape. The fruit produces 1 seed. When mature, the fruit does not split open to release the seed.
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