''Pyrrocoma lanceolata'' is a species of flowering plant in the family
Asteraceae
Asteraceae () is a large family (biology), family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the Order (biology), order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchi ...
known by the common name lanceleaf goldenweed.
It is native to western North America from central Canada to northeastern
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
to
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
, where it grows in many types of habitat, including disturbed places and areas with wet,
alkali soils
Alkali, or alkaline, soils are clay soils with high pH (greater than 8.5), a poor soil structure and a low infiltration capacity. Often they have a hard calcareous layer at 0.5 to 1 metre depth. Alkali soils owe their unfavorable physico ...
. It is a widespread and variable plant. It is a perennial herb growing one or more stems up to about half a meter long. The stems are decumbent or upright, reddish, usually somewhat hairy to quite woolly, and glandular toward the ends of the stems. The largest leaves are at the base of the plant, each measuring up to 30 centimeters in maximum length. They are generally lance-shaped with sawtoothed edges. The
inflorescence
In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...
bears several, up to 50,
flower heads
A pseudanthium (; : pseudanthia) 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, composite flowers ...
lined with reddish to green
phyllaries
In botanical terminology, a phyllary, also known an involucral bract or tegule, is a single bract of the involucre of a composite flower. The involucre is the grouping of bracts together. Phyllaries are reduced leaf-like structures that form one o ...
. Each contains yellow disc florets and ray florets. The fruit is an
achene
An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple fruit, simple dry fruits, dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and Dehi ...
up to a centimeter long including its
pappus.
References
External links
Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants ProfileFlora of North AmericaPhoto gallery
lanceolata
{{Astereae-stub