''Layia platyglossa'', commonly called coastal tidytips, is an

annual Annual may refer to: * Annual publication, periodical publications appearing regularly once per year **Yearbook ** Literary annual * Annual plant * Annual report * Annual giving * Annual, Morocco, a settlement in northeastern Morocco * Annuals (b ...

wildflower of 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 ...

, native to western North America.

Distribution

Tidytips was formerly found throughout low-elevation dry habitats in

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 ...

including the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in ...

and into

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

and

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

.USDA
. accessed 11/10/2010 In pre-European times this plant was common in solid stands at lower elevations. Found in grassy valley floors, slopes of hills, openings in

coastal sage scrub Coastal sage scrub, also known as coastal scrub, CSS, or soft chaparral, is a low scrubland plant community of the California coastal sage and chaparral subecoregion, found in coastal California and northwestern coastal Baja California. It is w ...

and

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...

, coastal plains, and in the High Desert. A member of Spring wildflower 'displays,' blooming March to June. This species is also found in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, in the state of

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

. It can be commonly found from

Tijuana Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and < ...

south to the Sierra de La Asamblea in the central part of the state. It is also found on

Guadalupe Island Guadalupe Island ( es, Isla Guadalupe, link=no) is a volcanic island located off the western coast of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula and about southwest of the city of Ensenada in the state of Baja California, in the Pacific Ocean. The ...

in the Pacific Ocean.

Description

''Layia platyglossa'' is an annual, glandular, daisy like plant with narrow, rough hairy leaves. The height of the entire plant is less than , roughly around wide. The roots are usually taproots, sometimes fibrous.Munz, Philip A.; "Introduction to California Spring Wildflowers of the Foothills, Valleys, and Coast. California" — University of California Press; Berkeley, 2004. The leaves at the upper part of the stem are short and have a pilous texture. The leaves at the basal part of the stem can be dentate to pinnate shaped with rotund short lobes. The lower leaves are generally lobed and the upper leaves are entire. Leaves usually alternate or opposite, and the blades are usually simple, rarely compound. ;Flowers The plant is an indeterminate

zygomorphic Floral symmetry describes whether, and how, a flower, in particular its perianth, can be divided into two or more identical or mirror-image parts. Uncommonly, flowers may have no axis of symmetry at all, typically because their parts are spirall ...

inflorescent, individual heads are borne on a peduncle. The stems are usually erect, prostrate or decumbent to ascending, and are stout and corymbed branched. The flower heads are composed of five to eighteen yellow ray flowers with white tips and many central yellow disk flowers. Its outer ray flowers are bright golden yellow with distinct, sharp-margined white tips. The bracts tips are rounded and involucre 6–12 mm high. The corolla is 4–6 mm long. The ray flowers are 3–3.8 mm long and the disk flowers are 2.8–5 mm long. The ligules are 6–15 mm long and 5–10 mm wide. The florets are bisexual, pistillate, functionally staminate or neuter. The sepals are highly modified. Pollination is done by insects. The fruits are usually dry with thick, tough pericarps, sometimes rostrate and/or winged. Dispersion is done by the help from ''

pappi In Asteraceae, the pappus is the modified calyx, the part of an individual floret, that surrounds the base of the corolla tube in flower. It functions as a wind-dispersal mechanism for the seeds. The term is sometimes used for similar s ...

'' (dispersal of fruit by wind). Seeds are one per fruit, embryos straight.

Cultivation

;Ornamental ''Layia platyglossa'' is cultivated as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...

. It is often an ingredient in commercial wildflower seed mixes. The daisy-like flowers are attractive, making it a popular

flower in traditional

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate both ...

wildlife garden A wildlife garden (or wild garden) is an environment created by a gardener that serves as a sustainable haven for surrounding wildlife. Wildlife gardens contain a variety of habitats that cater to native and local plants, birds, amphibians, rep ...

s, and

habitat garden A wildlife garden (or wild garden) is an environment created by a gardener that serves as a sustainable haven for surrounding wildlife. Wildlife gardens contain a variety of habitats that cater to native and local plants, birds, amphibians, ...

s.Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Native Plant Database: ''Layia platyglossa''
. accessed 10.1.2013Las Pilitas Horticultural Database: ''Layia platyglossa'' (Tidy Tips)
. accessed 10.1.2013 ;Restoration The wildflower is used in

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

projects, and is a

pollinator A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains. Insects are the maj ...

supportive plant. The ripe seeds are a food source for birds.

Gallery

File:Layia platyglossa.JPG File:Bright6.jpg File:Layia platyglossa-1.jpg

References

*Abrams, Leroy, and Stinchfield, Roxana; "Illustrated Flora of the Pacific States. Vol IV: Bignonias to Sunflowers" — California: Stanford University Press, 1960.

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment — ''Layia platyglossa''Calflora Database: ''Layia platyglossa''USDA Plants Profile for ''Layia platyglossa'' (tidy tips)
— ''plant data, distribution map''.
''Layia platyglossa'' — U.C. Calphoto gallery
{{Taxonbar, from=Q6505577 platyglossa Flora of Arizona Flora of California Flora of Utah Flora of Baja California Flora of Mexican Pacific Islands Flora of the California desert regions Flora of the Klamath Mountains Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Natural history of the Central Valley (California) Natural history of the Mojave Desert Natural history of the Peninsular Ranges Natural history of the Santa Monica Mountains Bird food plants Garden plants of North America Flora without expected TNC conservation status