Chaenactis stevioides

Chaenactis stevioides, with the common names Esteve's pincushion and desert pincushion, is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family.

Chaenactis stevioides
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
(unranked):
Angiosperms
(unranked):
Eudicots
(unranked):
Asterids
Order:
Asterales
Family:
Asteraceae
Tribe:
Heliantheae
Genus:
Chaenactis
Species:
C. stevioides
Binomial name
Chaenactis stevioides

Distribution

Esteve's pincushion is native to California and the Great Basin of the United States and the southwestern deserts extending into Mexico, where it grows in open arid and semiarid habitat. It is "among the most abundant spring wildflowers in the higher Mojave Desert and southern Great Basin."[1] It is also found in the southern California chaparral and woodlands habitats.

Description

Chaenactis stevioides is an annual herb growing one or more erect stems up to about 45 centimetres (18 in) tall. The stems are hairy with cobwebby fibers which thin with age. The leaves reach 2–4 centimetres (0.79–1.57 in) in length and are divided into many subdivided lobes.

The inflorescence bears several flower heads on a tall peduncle. Each head is lined with rigid, hairy and glandular phyllaries and filled with white, pink, or pale yellow flowers. The flowers around the edges are larger and open-faced, and the ones in the center of the head are smaller and somewhat tubular in shape. The fruit is an achene with a pappus of scales.

References
  1. Flora of North America


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