''Thelesperma,'' commonly known as greenthreads, is a genus of

annual Annual may refer to: *Annual publication, periodical publications appearing regularly once per year **Yearbook **Literary annual *Annual plant *Annual report *Annual giving *Annual, Morocco, a settlement in northeastern Morocco *Annuals (band), a ...

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

herbs Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnish (food), garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typi ...

and

subshrubs A subshrub (Latin ''suffrutex'') or undershrub is either a small shrub (e.g. prostrate shrubs) or a perennial that is largely herbaceous but slightly woody plant, woody at the base (e.g. garden pink and florist's chrysanthemum). The term is ofte ...

found in the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

. Members of this genus are closely related to some species of ''

Coreopsis ''Coreopsis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Common names include calliopsis and tickseed, a name shared with various tickseed, other plants. Description These plants range from in height. The flowers are usually ye ...

'' and ''

Bidens ''Bidens'' is a genus of flowering plants in the aster family, Asteraceae.''Bidens''.
...

.'' The genus is considered to be within the family ''Asteraceae''.

Description

Plants of this genus are

that typically range from in height. Most species of this genus have

opposite In lexical semantics, opposites are words lying in an inherently incompatible binary relationship. For example, something that is ''even'' entails that it is not ''odd''. It is referred to as a 'binary' relationship because there are two members i ...

leaves that contain

pinnately Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and in ...

lobed, usually

glabrous Glabrousness () is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes, or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of a plant or animal, or be due to loss because of a physical condition, ...

leaf blades. Depending on the species, the leaves can be mostly basal to mostly

cauline A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, fl ...

. The species bear radiate or

discoid Discoid may refer to: * Disk (mathematics), the region in a plane enclosed by a circle Medicine * Furosemide, a medication sold under the trade name Discoid * Discoid meniscus, a human anatomical variant * Discoid lupus erythematosus, a chroni ...

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 ...

that are borne singly or are in loose,

corymbiform Corymb is a botanical term for an inflorescence with the flowers growing in such a fashion that the outermost are borne on longer pedicels than the inner, bringing all flowers up to a common level. A corymb has a flattish top with a superficial re ...

arrays. Each flower head contains up to eight

ray florets Asteraceae () is a large family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchidaceae, and which is the larger fa ...

(some sp. do not have ray florets) with yellow, reddish brown or yellow and brown bicolored corollas, and 20 to over 100 yellow or brown

disc floret Asteraceae () is a large family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchidaceae, and which is the larger fa ...

Distribution

The genus is found from

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, (

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

) to north and west

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and from

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

Taxonomy

''Thelesperma'' was first named and described by

Christian Friedrich Lessing Christian Friedrich Lessing (10 August 1809 – 13 March 1862) was a German botanist who was a native of Groß Wartenberg, Niederschlesien. He was a brother to painter Carl Friedrich Lessing (1808–1880), and a grandnephew of poet Gotthold Ephr ...

in 1831 in the journal ''Linnaea''. The genus is closely related to parts of ''

'' and to certain North American ''

Bidens ''Bidens'' is a genus of flowering plants in the aster family, Asteraceae.''Bidens''.
...

'' species (including '' Bidens coronata'' and '' Bidens comosa'').

Etymology

The name ''Thelesperma'' is derived from the

ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

words (, meaning "nipple") and (, meaning "seed") referring to the

papillate This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary ...

cypselae Asteraceae () is a large family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchidaceae, and which is the larger fam ...

of some of the species. In English, the genus is commonly known as ''greenthreads.''

Species

As of July 2023,

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. History Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...

accepts 12 species for this genus: *'' Thelesperma burridgeanum'' S.F.Blake - (

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Coahuila Coahuila, formally Coahuila de Zaragoza, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza, is one of the 31 states of Mexico. The largest city and State Capital is the city of Saltillo; the second largest is Torreón and the thi ...

) *''

Thelesperma filifolium ''Thelesperma filifolium'', commonly known as stiff greenthread, or plains greenthread, is a species of flowering plant in the Aster (genus), aster family, Asteraceae. It is often found growing in shallow soils. It prefers Ruderal species, distur ...

'' (Hook.) A.Gray - (

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to northeast

) *''

Thelesperma flavodiscum ''Thelesperma,'' commonly known as greenthreads, is a genus of annual or perennial herbs and subshrubs found in the Americas. Members of this genus are closely related to some species of ''Coreopsis'' and ''Bidens.'' The genus is considered to be ...

'' (Shinners) B.L.Turner - (Texas,

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

) *'' Thelesperma graminiformis'' (Sherff) Melchert - (

Nuevo León Nuevo León, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nuevo León, is a Administrative divisions of Mexico, state in northeastern Mexico. The state borders the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosí, San Luis ...

Tamaulipas Tamaulipas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas, is a state in Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 43 municipalities. It is located in nor ...

) *'' Thelesperma longipes'' A.Gray - (

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

to Texas and northern Mexico) *''

Thelesperma megapotamicum ''Thelesperma megapotamicum'' is a perennial, herbaceous (or slightly woody), flowering plant in the Asteraceae family native to sections of the Americas. It is known by the common names Hopi tea greenthread, rayless greenthread, Navajo tea, cota, ...

'' (Spreng.) Herter - (United States, Mexico,

) *'' Thelesperma muelleri'' (Sherff) Melchert - (Nuevo León, Tamaulipas) *'' Thelesperma nuecense'' B.L.Turner - (Texas) *'' Thelesperma scabridulum'' S.F.Blake - (Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas) *'' Thelesperma simplicifolium'' (A.Gray) A.Gray - (Texas, Mexico) *'' Thelesperma subaequale'' S.F.Blake - (Coahuila, Nuevo León) *'' Thelesperma subnudum'' A.Gray - (

, central

)

Uses

Members of the genus are used by a number of the southwestern Native American

peoples The term "the people" refers to the public or common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. In contrast, a ...

as an

herbal tea Herbal teas, technically known as herbal infusions, and less commonly called tisanes (UK and US , US also ), are beverages made from the infusion or decoction of herbs, spices, or other plant material in hot water. Often herb tea, or the plai ...

. '' T. megapotamicum'' contains

luteolin Luteolin is a flavone, a type of flavonoid, with a yellow crystalline appearance. Luteolin is the main yellow dye from the '' Reseda luteola'' plant, used for dyeing since at least the first millennium B.C. Luteolin was first isolated in pure f ...

. It also appears that many of the species contain a very similar chromatographic profile, and thus may contain very similar profiles of flavenoids.

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q2641612 Coreopsideae Asteraceae genera Plants described in 1831