''Palafoxia'', or palafox, is a genus of

North American 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 Ca ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s in the Bahia tribe within the

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 ...

(sunflower family). This genus is named after José de Palafox y Melzi, Duke of Saragossa (1776–1847), a Spanish captain-general, in the war against the invading armies of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

. These are drought-tolerant, annual herbs growing on sandy plains, dunes, deserts (

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 ...

Sonoran desert The Sonoran Desert ( es, Desierto de Sonora) is a desert in North America and ecoregion that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the southwestern United States (in Ariz ...

) and rangeland, native to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and

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 ...

. ''P. callosa'' is

naturalised Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the i ...

in Hawaii. The erect, slender stem grows 30–60 cm tall, branching in the lower half and is sparsely leaved. It is glandular and hairy on the upper parts.Flora of North America Vol. 21 Page 388 ''Palafoxia'' Lagasca
/ref> The glabrous, glandular leaves are lanceolate, 3–20 mm wide and 4–7.5 cm long, and are arranged alternately. A few

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

heads appear at the end of the upper branches. The reddish to pink ray florets have three narrow lobes. They are subtended by involucral bracts. The seed-like

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

is narrow with a pappus of several pointed scales (giving rise to the common name 'Spanish Needles' for ''P. arida''). These plants self-sow freely. They are attractive to bees, butterflies and birds and are used as food plants by the

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. ...

e of some Lepidoptera species including '' Schinia niveicosta'', which feeds exclusively on ''P. linearis''. Rosy palafox (''Palafoxia rosea'') has been used in

folk medicine Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) comprises medical aspects of traditional knowledge that developed over generations within the folk beliefs of various societies, including indigenous peoples, before the ...

for the treatment of fever, nausea and chills. ; SpeciesFlann, C (ed) 2009+ Global Compositae Checklist
/ref>Biota of North America Program 2013 county distribution maps
/ref> * ''

Palafoxia arida ''Palafoxia arida'' is a species of flowering plant in the aster family, known by the common names desert palafox and Spanish needle. Distribution It is native to the Mojave Desert and Sonoran Desert ecoregions of California, the Southwestern U ...

'' B.L. Turner & Morris : Spanish needles, desert palafox - Baja California Sur, Sonora, CA AZ NV UT * ''

Palafoxia callosa ''Palafoxia callosa'', commonly known as the small palafox, is a species of flowering plant in the aster family. It is native to North America, where it is found in the south-central United States and in the state of Coahuila in Mexico. A disju ...

'' (Nutt.) Torr. & Gray : small palafox - Coahuila, TX LA MS AR MO OK * '' Palafoxia hookeriana'' Torr. & Gray : sand palafox - TX * '' Palafoxia integrifolia'' (Nutt.) Torr. & Gray : coastalplain palafox - FL GA * '' Palafoxia lindenii'' A.Gray -

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

* '' Palafoxia linearis'' (Cav.) Lag. - Baja California Sur, Sonora, Sinaloa, Chihuahua,

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 ...

( San Bernardino Co) * '' Palafoxia reverchonii'' (Bush) Cory : Reverchon's palafox - TX * '' Palafoxia riograndensis'' Cory : Rio Grande palafox - Coahuila,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

( Big Bend area) * '' Palafoxia rosea'' (Bush) Cory : rosy palafox - Nuevo León * '' Palafoxia sphacelata'' (Nutt. ex Torr.) Cory : showy palafox, sand palafox, rotting palafox - Chihuahua,

, TX NM OK KS NE CO * '' Palafoxia texana'' DC. :Texas palafox - Nuevo León, Coahuila,

Tamaulipas Tamaulipas (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas), is a state in the northeast region of Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal Entiti ...

, Nuevo León,

, TX LA FL

References

* * Tucker J.M. and M.I. Morris. 1975. New taxa of ''Palafoxia'' (Asteraceae: Helenieae). Madroño 23:79–80. * Turner, B. L. and M. L. Morris. 1976. Systematics of ''Palafoxia'' (Asteraceae: Helenieae). Rhodora 78:567–628.

External links

USDA Plants Profile for ''Palafoxia''

Jepson Manual Treatment: ''Palafoxia''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5221192 Asteraceae genera Flora of Mexico Flora of the United States Taxa named by Mariano Lagasca