''Grindelia hirsutula'' is a North American 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 names hairy gumplant and hairy gumweed.

Distribution

''Grindelia hirsutula'' is native to North America, widespread across Canada and in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

and

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

. The species is highly variable, and many local populations have been named as varieties or as distinct species. All these taxa do, however, intergrade with one another.

Description

''Grindelia hirsutula'' is an erect perennial herb or subshrub sometimes as much as tall but usually much shorter. The plant is usually green but the stems are often red or purplish-brown and the leaves can be somewhat yellowish to reddish. The plant can produce numerous flower heads in branching arrays at the top of the plant. Each head is wide with hemispheric cups of greenish

phyllaries In botanical terminology, a phyllary, also known an involucral bract or tegule, is a single bract of the involucre of a composite flower. The involucre is the grouping of bracts together. Phyllaries are reduced leaf-like structures that form one o ...

around the base, the bracts claw-like and bent away from the flowers. The center of the head is filled with many small yellow disc florets surround by numerous golden ray florets. The head produces a thick white exudate, especially in new flower heads.Flora of North America, ''Grindelia hirsutula'' Hooker & Arnott, Bot. 1833.
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Varieties

*''Grindelia hirsutula'' var. ''maritima'' — San Francisco Gum Plant, San Francisco gumplant, coastal gumweed;

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 else ...

to coastal

in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

.USDA: ''Grindelia hirsutula'' var. ''maritima''
/ref>

References

External links

USDA Plants Profile for ''Grindelia hirsutula'' (hairy gumweed)CalFlora Database: ''Grindelia hirsutula'' (gumweed, hairy gumweed)Jepson Manual Treatment of ''Grindelia hirsutula''University of California, Calphoto Photos gallery— ''Grindelia hirsutula''
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q12059153 hirsutula Flora of California Flora of Canada Flora of Oregon 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 Central Valley (California) Natural history of the San Francisco Bay Area Plants described in 1833 Flora without expected TNC conservation status