Psathyrotes ramosissima
| Psathyrotes ramosissima | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Asterales |
| Family: | Asteraceae |
| Genus: | Psathyrotes |
| Species: | P. ramosissima
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| Binomial name | |
| Psathyrotes ramosissima | |
| Synonyms | |
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Tetradymia ramosissima | |
Psathyrotes ramosissima is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common names velvet turtleback[1] and turtleback. It is native to the southwestern United States.
Description
[edit]It is a low, neatly mounded plant producing spreading stems which are hairless to densely woolly in texture. It grows to 12.5 centimetres (5 in) tall and has a turpentine odour.[2]
Leaves are borne on long petioles. The leaf blade is roundish, veined, and up to 2 cm (3⁄4 in) long.[2] It has a toothed edge and a velvety surface coated in woolly fibres and shiny hairs; it is brownish to grayish or pale green in color.
The knobby inflorescence is 6 millimetres (1⁄4 in) wide[2] and lined with woolly gray-green phyllaries with dull points that curve outward. It contains several hairy yellow disc florets.[2] The fruit is an achene tipped with a large pappus of over 100 long, fine bristles.
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Turtleback plant, Death Valley
Distribution and habitat
[edit]It is native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, where it grows in desert scrub.[2]
References
[edit]- ^ NRCS. "Psathyrotes ramosissima". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 15 October 2015.
- ^ a b c d e Spellenberg, Richard (2001) [1979]. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers: Western Region (rev. ed.). Knopf. p. 392. ISBN 978-0-375-40233-3.
External links
[edit]
Media related to Psathyrotes ramosissima at Wikimedia Commons- Jepson Manual Treatment
- USDA Plants Profile
- Photo gallery
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