''Psathyrotes annua'' is a species of flowering plant in the
aster family known by the common names annual psathyrotes, turtleback, or mealy rosettes.
It is native to the southwestern United States and as far north as
Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...
. It grows in desert and scrub habitat, often in areas with
alkali soils
Alkali, or Alkaline, soils are clay soils with high pH (greater than 8.5), a poor soil structure and a low infiltration capacity. Often they have a hard calcareous layer at 0.5 to 1 metre depth. Alkali soils owe their unfavorable physico- ...
among plants such as
shadscale
''Atriplex confertifolia'', the shadscale or spiny saltbush, is a species of evergreen shrub in the family Amaranthaceae, which is native to the western United States and northern Mexico.
Description
The height of ''Atriplex confertifolia'' vari ...
. It is a low, flat or mounding plant with spreading, hairy, scaly stems. It is pale green to reddish purple in color with gray-green leaves, its color dull from the coating of fibers on its surface. The irregularly rounded leaf blades are up to 1.6 centimeters long with wavy or toothed edges. The knobby
inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...
arises from the leaf axils. It is lined with hairy gray-green
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 or ...
with dull points that curve outward. It contains several hairy yellow to reddish disc florets. The fruit is an
achene
An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not ope ...
covered densely in long hairs and tipped with a large
pappus of bristles.
References
External links
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Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants ProfilePhoto gallery
Helenieae
{{Helenieae-stub