''Townsendia florifera'' is a low growing herbaceous flowering plant in 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 ...

family, with the common name showy Townsendia. Hitchcock, C.L. and Cronquist, A. 2018. Flora of the Pacific Northwest, 2nd Edition, p. 623. University of Washington Press, Seattle.

Description

''Townsendia florifera'' is an annual, biennial or perennial herb from a persistent base. The green basal leaves are spatulate to spatulate-obovate, 2-6 cm long and 3-11 mm wide, with cauline leaves similar or reduced. Leaves, stems, and floral bracts are sparsely to moderately-densely covered with short white hairs. The showy composite flowers are usually solitary on each short stem, with somewhat imbricate green bracts (overlapping segments) that are narrow and pointed with fringed margins. The 10 to 20 ray florets are light pink to nearly white and 7-12 mm long. Disk florets are numerous and yellow.

Range and habitat

''Townsendia florifera'' grows in dry open areas in the northwestern to west-central United States, often with sagebrush in gravelly or sandy areas. The range is central Washington and Oregon, southern Idaho, eastern Nevada, and western Utah, Montana, and Wyoming.

Gallery

Image: Townsendia florifera JHT IMG 5953.jpg, Leaves and stem Image: Townsendia florifera JHT IMG 4637.jpg, Whole plant

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q113661704, from2=Q15559537 florifera