''Hymenopappus filifolius'' is a North American species of flowering plant in the
daisy family
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 fineleaf hymenopappus and Columbia cutleaf. It is native to western and central
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 Alberta and Saskatchewan south as far as
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**Chihuahua (dog), a breed of dog named after the state
**Chihuahua cheese, a type of cheese originating in the state
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and
Baja California.
''Hymenopappus filifolius'' grows in a number of habitats, often in
arid regions. The plant is variable in appearance and there are a great number of varieties of the species. It is a
taprooted
perennial herb
In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...
growing as a small clump on the ground to an erect spray of stems up to a meter (40 inches) tall. Almost all of the leaves are located at the base of the plant in a woolly gray-green patch. They are up to 20 centimeters (8 inches) long and are divided into blunt, thready leaflets. They are glandular and thinly hairy to quite woolly, and dark green under the coat of white wool. The stem ends in a branching
inflorescence of knob-shaped discoid
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 ...
. They are filled with golden yellow or white disc florets. There are no ray florets.
[Flora of North America, ''Hymenopappus filifolius'' Hooker, 1833. ]
/ref>
There are many varieties,[ including:
*''Hymenopappus filifolius'' var. ''eriopodus'' – a white-flowered variety native from California, Nevada, Utah
*''Hymenopappus filifolius'' var. ''filifolius'' – Idaho, Oregon, Washington
*''Hymenopappus filifolius'' var. ''idahoensis'' – Idaho
*''Hymenopappus filifolius'' var. lugens – Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Baja California
*''Hymenopappus filifolius'' var. luteus – Utah, Wyoming, Colorado
*''Hymenopappus filifolius'' var. megacephalus – California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Colorado
*''Hymenopappus filifolius'' var. nanus – Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah
*''Hymenopappus filifolius'' var. ''nudipes'' – Utah, Wyoming
*''Hymenopappus filifolius'' var. ''parvulus'' – Colorado
*''Hymenopappus filifolius'' var. pauciflorus – Utah, Arizona, Colorado
*''Hymenopappus filifolius'' var. polycephalus – Alberta, Saskatchewan, Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming
*''Hymenopappus filifolius'' var. tomentosus – Utah
]
Uses
The Zuni people
The Zuni ( zun, A:shiwi; formerly spelled ''Zuñi'') are Native American Pueblo peoples native to the Zuni River valley. The Zuni are a Federally recognized tribe and most live in the Pueblo of Zuni on the Zuni River, a tributary of the Lit ...
apply a poultice of chewed root with lard to swellings. They also drink a warm decoction of the root as an emetic. They also use the root as chewing gum.[Stevenson, p.68]
References
External links
Jepson Manual Treatment, University of CaliforniaUnited States Department of Agriculture Plants Profile''H. filifolius'' Calphotos Photo gallery, University of Californiavar. ''eriopodus'' Calphotos Photo gallery, University of California
filifolius
Plants used in Native American cuisine
Plants used in traditional Native American medicine
Plants described in 1833
Flora of North America
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