''Askellia pygmaea'', the dwarf alpine hawksbeard, is a species of
Asian and
North American plants in the tribe
Cichorieae within the family
Asteraceae.
Distribution
It is native to western, northern, and eastern
Canada (
Yukon,
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...
,
British Columbia,
Alberta,
Nunavut
Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' ...
,
Quebec,
Labrador,
Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
), the
western United States (
Alaska,
Montana,
Wyoming,
Colorado,
Idaho,
Utah,
Nevada,
Washington,
Oregon,
California),
Russia,
Mongolia,
Kazakhstan, and western
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
(
Tibet +
Xinjiang).
[
]
Description
''Askellia pygmaea'' is a perennial up to 20 cm (8 inches) tall, with a deep taproot and spreading by means of underground rhizomes
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...
thus forming dense clumps. Stems are sometimes erect, but sometimes trailing along the ground. One plant can have more than 80 small 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 ...
, each with 9-12 yellow ray florets but no disc florets.Flora of North America, Dwarf alpine hawksbeard, ''Crepis nana'' Richardson
/ref>[Flora of China, 矮小假苦菜 ai xiao jia ku cai ''Askellia pygmaea'' (Ledebour) Sennikov, Komarovia. 5: 86. 2008. ]
/ref>
References
Cichorieae
Flora of Northern America
Flora of Asia
Plants described in 1812
Taxa named by Carl Friedrich von Ledebour
{{Cichorieae-stub