''Arnica latifolia'' is a species of

arnica ''Arnica'' is a genus of perennial plant, perennial, herbaceous plants in the sunflower family (Asteraceae). The genus name ''Arnica'' may be derived from the Greek language, Greek ''wikt:arni, arni'', "lamb", in reference to the plants' soft, h ...

in the sunflower family, known by the common names broadleaf arnica, broad leaved arnica, mountain arnica, and daffodil leopardbane. It is native to western

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 ...

from

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

east to

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

and south to Mono County,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, and Taos County,

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

. It grows in mountain habitat such as forest and meadows. ''Arnica latifolia'' is a perennial herb growing from a long

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

and producing a hairy, mostly naked stem 10 to 50 centimeters tall. It has a cluster of leaves around its base and usually a few pairs along the lower part of the stem. The leaves are lance-shaped to broad and nearly heart-shaped, and are usually toothed.Flora of North America Vol. 21 Page 376 Broadleaf arnica ''Arnica latifolia'' Bongard, Mém. Acad. Imp. Sci. St.-Pétersbourg, Sér. 6, Sci. Math. 2: 147. 1832.
/ref> The

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 ...

contains one or more daisy-like

flower heads A pseudanthium (Greek for "false flower"; ) 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, compos ...

lined in glandular phyllaries. Each has a center of yellow

disc floret 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 ...

s and several yellow ray florets up to 3 centimeters long. 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 white pappus. The plant was first described in 1832 by German-Russian botanist

Gustav Heinrich von Bongard August Gustav Heinrich von Bongard (12 September 1786 – 1839) was a German botanist who worked in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Born in Bonn, he was among the first botanists to describe the new plants then being discovered in Alaska (under Russian ...

, based on material collected near

Sitka russian: Ситка , native_name_lang = tli , settlement_type = Consolidated city-borough , image_skyline = File:Sitka 84 Elev 135.jpg , image_caption = Downtown Sitka in 1984 , image_size ...

, now in Alaska (then called Russian America). The species could be confused with the similar ''

Arnica cordifolia ''Arnica cordifolia'' is a species of arnica in the sunflower family, known by the common name heartleaf arnica. It is native to western North America. Description This is a rhizomatous perennial herb producing one or more erect stems reaching ...

'', from which it can be distinguished by the leaves.

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentUnited States Department of Agriculture Plants Profilecalphotos Photo gallery, University of California
* latifolia Flora of Subarctic America Plants described in 1832 Flora of Western Canada Flora of the Northwestern United States Flora of the Southwestern United States Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Madieae-stub