''Tanacetum camphoratum'' is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common names camphor tansy and dune tansy. It is native to the Pacific Coast of North America from

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

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 ...

, where it grows in

sand dunes A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, fl ...

and other coastline habitat. This species may be known by the

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

''Tanacetum douglasii'' and is often included in ''

Tanacetum bipinnatum ''Tanacetum'' is a genus of about 160 species of flowering plants in the aster family, Asteraceae, native to many regions of the Northern Hemisphere.

''.Flora of North America
/ref> It is a

rhizomatous 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 ho ...

perennial herb with a thick, low-lying stem up to 25 centimeters long, branching to form a mass of vegetation. It is hairy, glandular, and aromatic, with a

camphor Camphor () is a waxy, colorless solid with a strong aroma. It is classified as a terpenoid and a cyclic ketone. It is found in the wood of the camphor laurel ('' Cinnamomum camphora''), a large evergreen tree found in East Asia; and in the k ...

scent. The leaves are up to 25 centimeters long and thick but featherlike, divided into many narrow leaflets on each side of the main

rachis In biology, a rachis (from the grc, ῥάχις [], "backbone, spine") is a main axis or "shaft". In zoology and microbiology In vertebrates, ''rachis'' can refer to the series of articulated vertebrae, which encase the spinal cord. In this c ...

. Each leaflet in turn has many segments along each side, and the segments are usually divided into several small, knobby segments with folded or curled edges. 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 ...

bears up to 15 flower heads, each about a centimeter wide or slightly wider. Each head contains many yellowish disc florets and many pistillate florets around the edges. The latter may have minute ray florets. 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 which is tipped with a small pappus of toothed scales.

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentPhoto gallery
camphoratum {{Anthemideae-stub