''Malacothrix glabrata'', commonly known as the smooth desert dandelion or desert dandelion, is an
annual plant
An annual plant is a plant that completes its life cycle, from germination to the production of seeds, within one growing season, and then dies. The length of growing seasons and period in which they take place vary according to geographical ...
in the family
Asteraceae.
[Sia Morhardt, Emil Morhardt, California Desert Wildflowers, University of California Press, p. 64-65] It is common to the southwestern deserts of North America and has showy pale-yellow to white flowers.
[ The name "glabrata" refers to the leaves being (nearly) hairless.][ Like other members of its genus, it has a milky sap and flower heads composed of smaller strap-like flowers called "]ligules A ligule (from "strap", variant of ''lingula'', from ''lingua'' "tongue") is a thin outgrowth at the junction of leaf and leafstalk of many grasses (Poaceae) and sedges. A ligule is also a strap-shaped extension of the corolla, such as that of a ...
".[
The species is native to the western United States, excluding much of the Pacific Northwest, and into northern Mexico. It is a ]dicot
The dicotyledons, also known as dicots (or, more rarely, dicotyls), are one of the two groups into which all the flowering plants (angiosperms) were formerly divided. The name refers to one of the typical characteristics of the group: namely, t ...
.
''Malacothrix glabrata'' is typically tall with a flower head. Its fragrant, daisy-like flower heads are in shades of yellow or white, and flower heads may have an orange to red "button" in the center of the flower head, composed of several immature flowers.[Susan J. Wernert, Reader's Digest Association, Brenda Jackson. ''North American Wildlife: An Illustrated Guide to 2,000 Plants and Animals''. Reader's Digest, 1998. p.467. ]
Gallery
File:Malacothrix glabrata.jpg,
File:Smooth Desert dandelion.jpg,
File:Malacothrix glabrata 03-08-09.jpg,
File:Desert Dandelion and Desert Pincushion, Joshua Tree.jpg,
File:Desert dandelion Malacothrix glabrata by root close.jpg, ''M. glabrata'' flower & hairless leaves
References
External links
Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants ProfileCalFloraFlora of North AmericaPhoto gallery
glabrata
{{Cichorieae-stub