''Agoseris retrorsa'' is a

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

n species of flowering plant in 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 w ...

known by the common name spearleaf agoseris or spearleaf mountain dandelion. It is native to western

from

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

, where it grows in many types of habitat, including

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...

, scrub, and coniferous forest.Calflora taxon report, University of California, ''Agoseris retrorsa'' (Benth.) E. Greene Spearleaf mountain dandelion, spear leaved agoseris, spearleaf agoseris
/ref>

Description

''Agoseris retrorsa'' is a perennial herb forming a base of leaves about a number of erect, thick, wool-coated

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

s up to half a meter in height. The narrow leaves are linear to lance-shaped, and spearlike with curving toothlike lobes along the edges.Flora of North America, ''Agoseris retrorsa''
/ref> The inflorescence bears a single flower head which is several centimeters wide when fully open. It is lined with woolly, pointed phyllaries which are green, often with reddish purple longitudinal streaks or stripes. The flower head contains many golden yellow ray florets, the outer ones usually darker in color. 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 ope ...

with a plumelike pappus of white bristles.

References

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment: ''Agoseris retrorsa''United States Department of Agriculture Plants Profile: ''Agoseris retrorsa''''Agoseris retrorsa'' — Calphotos Photo gallery, University of California
retrorsa Flora of Baja California Flora of California Flora of Idaho Flora of Nevada Flora of Oregon Flora of Utah Flora of the Great Basin Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Natural history of the Peninsular Ranges Natural history of the Transverse Ranges Plants described in 1849 Taxa named by George Bentham Taxa named by Edward Lee Greene Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Cichorieae-stub