Scientific Family
Asteraceae
Synonyms
Macdougalia bigelovii
Plant type
Forbs and Subshrubs
Origin
Native
Lifecycle
Perennial
Height
8 to 27 inches tall
Riparian
No
Subshrub; base of plant woody, tap-rooted; 1 to 5, erect stems, green throughout or reddish above or throughout; usually not branched towards stem tips; leaves mostly basal, hairy.
Basal leaf rosette similar to Tragopogon dubius except missing milky sap; stems solitary or few; leaves smooth margined or 3-parted, not glandular; flower head bracts lance-like, may be hairy; flower heads mostly solitary on mostly naked stems.
Habitat
Dry slopes, pine forests, juniper-pine woodlands, roadsides.
Plant Community
Pinyon Juniper Woodlands
Montane Conifer Forest
Disturbed Areas
Low elevation
5500
High elevation
7500
Flower Characteristics
Flower heads single, on stem ends, 1 to 8; bracts inverted cone-shaped to hemispheric, yellowish, whitish, or reddish, sparsely to densely hairy in 2 unequal series; disc flowers 100 to 250 or more, yellow, densely glandular; ray flowers 13 to 15, yellow.
Flower color
Yellow
Flower shape
Daisy or dandelion-like
Tubular
No
First bloom month
April
Last bloom month
October
Flower clusters
Rounded
Leaf and Stem Characteristics
Stems hairy; leaves basal and on stems, simple, rarely lobed, narrowly linear, to 4 inches long, less than 1/8 inch wide, thick, fleshy, smooth to somewhat hairy, sparsely glandular or glands absent, very hairy at the base.
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf color
Green
Leaf shape
Narrow
Leaf margin
Smooth
Leaves clasp
No
Leaf hairs
Leaves & stems
Spines
No
Fruit and Seed Characteristics
Small one-seeded dry fruits do not split open at maturity; broader at top than base (upside down pyramid), narrow, hairy; pappus of 9 to 11 lance-like scales that are pointed at the base.
Fruit type
Achene