''Constancea'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plants 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 ...

containing the single species ''Constancea nevinii'' (formerly ''Eriophyllum nevinii''), which is known by the common name Nevin's woolly sunflower. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to three of the Channel Islands of California, where it grows in coastal scrub habitat. This is a small

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

or subshrub generally growing up to one or 1.5 meters tall, and taller when an erect form, with a branching, woolly stem. The whitish, woolly oval leaves may be up to 20 centimeters long and are divided into many narrow lobes with edges curled under. 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 ...

is a cluster of 10 to 50 or more small

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 on a short

peduncle Peduncle may refer to: *Peduncle (botany), a stalk supporting an inflorescence, which is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed *Peduncle (anatomy), a stem, through which a mass of tissue is attached to a body **Peduncle (art ...

. The flower head has a center of hairy, glandular, star-shaped yellow disc florets and a fringe of four to nine yellow ray florets, each about 2 millimeters 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 ...

a few millimeters long with a small pappus at the tip. Like many Channel Islands endemics, this plant was threatened with extinction by the herbivory of the feral goats living on the islands; the goats have since been removed, and the plant is recovering.

Genetic analyses Genetic analysis is the overall process of studying and researching in fields of science that involve genetics and molecular biology. There are a number of applications that are developed from this research, and these are also considered parts of ...

indicate that this species, previously called ''Eriophyllum nevinii'', did not come from the same common ancestor as the other ''Eriophyllum'' species and so is not close enough relative to be included in that genus. Genus ''Constancea'' was created for the plant in 2000 and named for botanist

Lincoln Constance Lincoln Constance (February 16, 1909 – June 11, 2001) was an American botanist and administrator at the University of California, Berkeley. Constance worked with Marion S. Cave for over twenty years to identify how many chromosomes different mem ...

.Flora of North America
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References

External links

Calflora Database: ''Constancea nevinii'' (Nevin's woolly sunflower)Jepson Manual eFlora (TJM2) treatment of ''Constancea nevinii''USDA Plants Profile for ''Constancea nevinii'' (Nevin's woolly sunflower)U.C. Photos gallery of ''Constancea nevinii'' images
Madieae Endemic flora of California Monotypic Asteraceae genera {{Asteroideae-stub