Tansey-leaf Tansey-Aster
Machaeranthera tanacetifolia
Photographed near Cave Creek, Spur Cross Ranch, Maricopa Co., Arizona. November 2010.
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RANGE: This is the common purple aster of upper elevations in the
Sonoran Desert blooming in late spring or more often in the fall. Often in
areas adjacent to riparian habitats. Many variations of this species (leaves,
hirsuteness, flower size) range from Montana to Arizona and Texas and into
Mexico.
FLOWERS: Many rays of light or darker purple florets and a disc of
central yellow florets. Phyllaries in several series enclosing the flower head.
Tips are pointed, but not spine-tipped. Blooming mostly in fall and sometimes
in spring and summer months.
LEAVES: Upper leaves usually toothed and the lower ones dissected into
narrow segments.
ANNUAL OR BIENNIAL: Herbaceous plants occasionally taller than
one meter. Plants may survive through mild winters and regrow the
following year once more.
FRUIT: The slightly flattened seeds are topped with a pappus of fine whitish
bristles.
UNARMED.