''Acourtia'' is a genus of
flowering plants in the family
Asteraceae and was first described as a genus in 1830. It includes ''desertpeonies'', such as ''Acourtia nana'' (dwarf desertpeony) and ''Acourtia runcinata'' (featherleaf desertpeony).
The genus name of ''Acourtia'' is in honour of Mary Elizabeth Catherine Gibbs à Court-Repington (1792–1878), an English noblewoman with botanical interests, who married
Charles Ashe à Court-Repington
General (United Kingdom), General Charles Ashe à Court-Repington (17 June 1785 – 19 April 1861), born Charles Ashe à Court, was a senior British Army commander and politician.
He was the third son of Sir William à Court, 1st Baronet, Sir ...
.
Plants in this genus are native to the
Southwestern United States
The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, Ne ...
(from
Arizona,
California,
Nevada,
New Mexico,
Utah to
Texas) and
Mesoamerica (in Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico).
They are diverse in appearance. The flowers are usually white, pink, or purple.
[Flora of North America Vol. 19 Page 72, ''Acourtia'' D. Don]
/ref>[Nelson, C. H. 2008. Catálogo de las Plantas Vasculares de Honduras 1–1576. Secretaria de Recursos Naturales y Ambiente, Tegucigalpa] Their flower heads
A pseudanthium (Greek for "false flower"; ) is an inflorescence that resembles a flower. The word is sometimes used for other structures that are neither a true flower nor a true inflorescence. Examples of pseudanthia include flower heads, compos ...
are usually composed of only disc florets, though some are long and look like ray florets.
Accepted species
81 species (as of January 2022),
References
External links
Jepson Manual Treatment
USDA Plants Profile
*
*
Nassauvieae
Asteraceae genera
Flora of North America
Plants described in 1830
{{Asteraceae-stub