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Pectis filipes - fivebract chinchweed

Scientific Family
Asteraceae
Synonyms
Pectis jaliscana
Other common names
five-bract cinchweed
threadstalk chinchweed
Plant type
Forbs and Subshrubs
Origin
Native
Lifecycle
Annual
Height
To 12 inches
Riparian
No

Uncommon; strongly scented; slender stems, moderately branched, often spreading, then becoming upright; leaves narrow, opposite; flower heads in loose leafy clusters, stalks very slender, to 3 inches long; 5 ray and 5 to 6 disc flowers yellow.

Diffuse annual, spicy-lemon scented; leaves narrow, opposite, margins with 1 to 2 pairs of bristles; flower heads on long hairless stalks; 5 yellow ray flowers; ray flowers fall with a bract, disc flowers 5 to 6; achene topped by scales and 0 to 3 awns.

Habitat

Sandy areas, rocky slopes, grasslands, mesas, pinyon-juniper woodlands, shrub-lands.

Plant Community
Desert Scrub
Grasslands
Interior Chaparral
Pinyon Juniper Woodlands
Low elevation
3000
High elevation
6000

Flower Characteristics

Flower heads of 5 ray and 5 to 6 disc flowers, solitary or in loose leafy rounded clusters; stalks very slender, to 3 inches long; phyllaries (bracts) lightly ridged and faintly swollen below, often without glands, edges thin, tips rounded.

Flower color
Yellow
Flower shape
Daisy or dandelion-like
Tubular
No
First bloom month
July
Last bloom month
October
Flower clusters
Rounded

Leaf and Stem Characteristics

Leaves narrow, to 2-1/2 inches long; without hairs to faintly rough to the touch, often sub-revolute (margins turned under) with glands on margins and 1 to 5 pairs of bristles a their base.

Leaf type
Simple
Leaf color
Green
Leaf shape
Narrow
Leaf margin
Other
Leaf attachment
Opposite
Leaves clasp
No
Spines
No

Fruit and Seed Characteristics

Narrow, topped by 1 to 4 slightly barbed, hairy bristles.

Fruit type
Achene
Fruit color
Black