Silver Puffs
Uropappus lindleyi
(Microseris linearifolia/M. lindleyi)
Photographed at Mesquite Wash, Maricopa Co., Arizona. Spring 2008.
Photographed at Mesquite Wash, Maricopa Co., Arizona. Spring 2008.
FRUIT: The achenes are each topped with five, long silver scales.
Together the conspicuous head and achenes resembles an oversized dandelion head.
ANNUAL: Moderately tall annual of spring found on rocky slopes and wash
banks after wet springs. Stems exude milky sap when injured.
FLOWERS: All of the florets are strap-shaped. The outer florets are longer and
are subtended by enlarged, star-shaped bracts. By mid morning the flowers
wither in hot temperatures. The flower heads are suspended on long peduncles.
LEAVES: Leaves are almost entirely in a basal rosete at ground level.
Pinnately dissected into narrow segments. Silky hairs.
RANGE: Frequent throughout the Sonoran Desert in Arizona and Mexico
mostly at middle and upper elevations. Range extends from Texas to the Pacific
Northwest.
UNARMED.