''Chaenactis cusickii'' 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 plants in the aster family known by the common name Morning brides or Cusick's pincushion. It has been found only in southeastern

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

and southwestern

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

Description

''Chaenactis cusickii'' is a small perennial rarely more than 15 cm (6 inches) tall. Each branch produces 1-5 (occasionally more)

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 ...

each containing white or pale pink

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 but no

ray florets 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 ...

.Flora of North America, Evermann’s pincushion, ''Chaenactis evermannii'' Greene
/ref>Greene, Edward Lee 1912. Leaflets of Botanical Observation and Criticism 2(10): 224
/ref> The species is named for American botanis
William Conklin Cusick
(1842-1922).

References

External links

Steens Mountain Wildflowers, Cusicks Pincushion, ''Chaenactis cusickii''
photo
Portland State University, Environmental Science and Management Rae Selling Berry Seed Bank & Plant Conservation Program, ''Chaenactis cusickii''
Oregon distribution map

photos
photo of herbarium specimen at New York Botanical Garden, collected in Oregon
cusickii Flora of Idaho Flora of Oregon Plants described in 1912 Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Asteroideae-stub