''Urospermum dalechampii'', the smooth golden fleece or simply the golden-fleece, is a
perennial
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...
herbaceous
Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials.
Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous"
The fourth edition of t ...
plant belonging to the genus ''
Urospermum
''Urospermum'', or prickly goldenfleece, is a small genus of flowering plants in the dandelion tribe within the daisy 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 ...]
.
Description
''Urospermum dalechampii'' reaches on average of height, with a minimum height of and a maximum height of . This plant is quite hairy, with a single or branched stem. Basal leaves are usually arranged in a rosette of toothed leaves, while cauline leaves are just a few and smaller, more or less undivided and amplexicaul. The flowers are hermaphrodite. The flower heads are yellow sulfur, about five centimeter wide. Involucral bracts vary from seven to eight. Blooms are abundant throughout the Spring. The flowering period extends from March through August. The long, beaked fruit is an achene, and has a feathery, slightly reddish pappus.
Gallery
Distribution
This plant occurs in Western and Central Mediterranean from Spain to Dalmatia and North Africa.
Habitat
These plants can be found on roadsides, dry grasslands or wastelands at above sea level. They are commonly grown in drained soil and sunny places throughout the year.
References
* Pignatti S. - Flora d'Italia - Edagricole – 1982. vol. III
External links
Biolib
*
Cichorieae
Flora of Italy
{{Cichorieae-stub