Stylocline intertexta
| Stylocline intertexta | |
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| Species: | S. intertexta
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| Stylocline intertexta | |
Stylocline intertexta is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common names Morefield's neststraw[1] and Mojave neststraw. It is native to the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts of California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona, where it grows in rocky, sandy desert soils. It likely evolved as a hybrid between woollyhead neststraw (Stylocline micropoides) and baretwig neststraw (S. psilocarphoides); it is a mix of their morphological traits and it occurs alongside both of them.[2] It reproduces itself, producing fertile offspring, and it meets other criteria for any other definition of a species, so it was described to science as such in 1992.[3] It is a small annual herb growing at ground level and reaching just a few centimeters in length. It is usually coated in white hairs, often woolly. The small, pointed leaves are oval to lance-shaped and measure up to 1.5 centimeters long. The inflorescence bears spherical flower heads each a few millimeters in diameter. The head has no phyllaries, just a ball of tiny woolly white flowers.
References
- ^ USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Stylocline intertexta". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
- ^ Flora of North America
- ^ Morefield, J. D. (1992). Three new species of Stylocline (Asteraceae:Inuleae) from California and the Mojave Desert. Madroño 39:114-130.
External links
- Calflora Database: Stylocline intertexta (Morefield's neststraw, Tangled nest straw)
- Jepson Manual eFlora (TJM2) treatment
- UC CalPhotos gallery
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