''Lessingia lemmonii'' is a species of
flowering plant in the family
Asteraceae known by the common name Lemmon's lessingia. It is native to the western United States around the intersection of
Nevada,
Arizona, and
California, where it grows in desert and other habitat with sandy soils. This is an annual herb producing gray-green woolly stems in a low clump just a few centimeters high to a relatively erect 40 centimeters tall. The leaves are narrow and small, under 2 centimeters long, with much larger leaves appearing around the base of the young plant and withering away early. The
flower heads
A pseudanthium (Greek for "false flower"; ) is an inflorescence that resembles a flower. The word is sometimes used for other structures that are neither a true flower nor a true inflorescence. Examples of pseudanthia include flower heads, compos ...
appear singly or in open arrays. Each head has a bell- to bullet-shaped involucre lined with hairy to woolly
phyllaries. The head is discoid, containing no ray florets but many funnel-shaped yellow disc florets with long lobes. The florets often have white markings in the throats. The fruit is an
achene
An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not ope ...
with a whitish or brownish
pappus of bristles.
External links
Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants ProfilePhoto gallery
lemmonii
Flora of Arizona
Flora of California
Flora of Nevada
Flora without expected TNC conservation status
{{Astereae-stub