| Rafinesquia neomexicana | |
|---|---|
| |
| Flowering plant near Amboy, California | |
Scientific classification
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Asterales |
| Family: | Asteraceae |
| Genus: | Rafinesquia |
| Species: | R. neomexicana
|
| Binomial name | |
| Rafinesquia neomexicana | |
Rafinesquia neomexicana is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Common names include desert chicory, [2] plumeseed, or New Mexico plumeseed. [1] [3] It has white showy flowers, milky sap, and weak, zigzag stems, that may grow up through other shrubs for support. [2] It is an annual plant (completes its life cycle in a single season) found in dry climate areas of the southwestern deserts of the US and northwestern deserts of Mexico. [2]
Description
The annual plants are gray-green with sparse foliage and are between 15 and 50 centimetres (6 and 19+1⁄2 inches) high. [3] Basal leaves are 5 to 20 cm (2 to 8 in) long and pinnate with narrow lobes while leaves further up the stem are smaller. [3]
White flowerheads appear at the end of the stems between May and June in the species native range. [3]
Flower heads occur singly at the tip of branches. [2] The flower heads are composed of strap-shaped ray flowers, growing longer toward the outer portion of the head, and collectively creating the appearance of a single flower as in other sunflower family plants. [2] The outer flowers in the head extend well beyond the 1.5–2.5 cm (1⁄2–1 in) long phyllaries (bracts enclosing the flower head before opening). [2]
Similar species include R. californica and Calycoseris wrightii. [4]
Distribution and habitat
In the United States the species occurs in California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. [1] It occurs in the Mexican states of Baja California and Sonora. [5]
It is found in the Mojave Desert, and in the Sonoran Deserts including the Colorado Desert sub-region.
It occurs in sandy or gravelly soils in creosote bush scrub and Joshua Tree woodland plant communities in the Mojave Desert and Sonoran Desert, from California to Texas and northern Mexico. [2]
References
- ^ a b c "The PLANTS Database". USDA, NRCS. 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-16.
- ^ a b c d e f g Pam Mackay, Mojave Desert Wildflowers, 2nd Edition, p135
- ^ a b c d Spellenberg, R. (1979). Field Guide to North American Wildflowers - Western Region. National Audubon Society. ISBN 0-375-40233-0.
- ^ Spellenberg, Richard (2001) [1979]. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers: Western Region (rev ed.). Knopf. pp. 393–394. ISBN 978-0-375-40233-3.
- ^ Flora of North America
External links
- Jepson Manual Treatment of Rafinesquia neomexicana
- Rafinesquia neomexicana — UC Photo gallery
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Media related to
Rafinesquia neomexicana at Wikimedia Commons
- Cichorieae
- Flora of Arizona
- Flora of Baja California
- Flora of the California desert regions
- Flora of New Mexico
- Flora of Sonora
- Flora of Texas
- Flora of Utah
- Flora of the Sonoran Deserts
- Natural history of the Colorado Desert
- Natural history of the Mojave Desert
- Taxa named by Asa Gray
- Plants described in 1853