Malacothrix glabrata
Malacothrix glabrata | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Asterales |
Family: | Asteraceae |
Genus: | Malacothrix |
Species: | M. glabrata
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Binomial name | |
Malacothrix glabrata |
Malacothrix glabrata, commonly known as the smooth desert dandelion or desert dandelion, is an annual plant with yellow flowers that appears in western North America.
Description
[edit]Like other members of its genus, Malacothrix glabrata has a milky sap and daisy-like flower heads. The plants grow to 15 to 40 cm (5 to 15 in) tall. The leaves are 6.5–12.5 cm (2+1⁄2–5 in) long, with stringy lobes.[1] The fragrant flower heads are 2.5 to 6.5 cm (1 to 2+1⁄2 in) wide,[1] composed of smaller yellow to white strap-like flowers called "ligules".[2] In the center of the flower head may be an orange to red "button", composed of several immature flowers.[3]
Taxonomy
[edit]It is a dicot in the family Asteraceae.[2] The name "glabrata" refers to the leaves being (nearly) hairless.[2]
Distribution and habitat
[edit]The species is native to the western United States, excluding much of the Pacific Northwest, and into northern Mexico. It is common to the southwestern deserts of North America.[2]
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Pinto Valley, Joshua Tree National Park, California
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Desert dandelions and desert pincushions, Joshua Tree
References
[edit]- ^ a b Spellenberg, Richard (2001) [1979]. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers: Western Region (rev. ed.). Knopf. p. 388. ISBN 978-0-375-40233-3.
- ^ a b c d Morhardt, Sia; Morhardt, Emil (2004). California Desert Wildflowers, University of California Press, pp. 64–65
- ^ Susan J. Wernert, Reader's Digest Association, Brenda Jackson. North American Wildlife: An Illustrated Guide to 2,000 Plants and Animals. Reader's Digest, 1998. p.467. ISBN 0-7621-0020-6
External links
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