''Stephanomeria virgata'', commonly called rod wirelettuce,
twiggy wreath plant, and virgate wirelettuce, is a herbaceous
annual plant of the family
Asteraceae
The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae ...
. It can be found growing in Western North America, specifically California, but also in Oregon and Nevada and northern Mexico. This plant can be found in dry, open habitat types at elevations below 2100 meters. ''S. virgata'' is sometimes used as an
ornamental plant
Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that ...
.
Description
''Stephanomeria virgata'' is an annual plant and grows 5 to 30 centimeters tall. The stem may be hairless or woolly. It is long and has dense branches. Leaves on the lower plant are rosetted around the base. They are oblong and lobed. On the upper plant the leaves are small, linear in shape, and smooth edged without lobes.
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 ...
occur at intervals on the branches and contain 5 to 9 ray florets. 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 op ...
with a
pappus of white bristles.
Early classification
''Stephanomeria virgata'' formerly included plants that now belong to the species ''
Stephanomeria diegensis''.
References
*Chester, T
''S. virgata'': An analysis
External links
Jepson Manual TreatmentFlora of North AmericaPhoto gallery
virgata
{{Cichorieae-stub