Herb with taproot; stems glandular or covered with sticky hairs which resemble spider's web (arachnoid).
Stems and leaves glandular or viscid; leaves more or less serrated or divided into deep narrow irregular segments. Flower heads without ray flowers, the disc flower are about half as long as the tuft of hairs on each seed.
Habitat
Found in ditch banks, dry stream beds and disturbed sites.
Flower Characteristics
Disc flowers only along elongated, branched stems, 5 to 20 per flower stem; 2 to 5 bracts (phyllaries) cone-shaped, 1/8 inch diameter; 60 to 100 female whitish flowers ring the edges of flower heads.
Leaf and Stem Characteristics
When plant is young, leaves form a densely hairy basal rosette; after plant bolts, leaves alternate along the stem, mostly sessile and clasping; blades oblong, 3/4 to 2 inches long and 1/4 to 3/4 inch wide, many irregularly toothed or obscurely lobed.
Fruit and Seed Characteristics
Achenes <1/16 inch long, pale tan, topped with a pappus of 10 to 30 fragile and easily deciduous whitish bristles.