Atrichoseris

Atrichoseris is a genus of plants in the family Asteraceae.[2][1] It contains only one known species, Atrichoseris platyphylla, known by the common names tobacco weed, parachute plant, and gravel ghost.[3]

Atrichoseris
Atrichoseris platyphylla
at Lake Mead
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Subfamily: Cichorioideae
Tribe: Cichorieae
Subtribe: Microseridinae
Genus: Atrichoseris
A.Gray
Species:
A. platyphylla
Binomial name
Atrichoseris platyphylla
Synonyms[1]
  • Anathrix A.Gray
  • Malacothrix unranked Anathrix A. Gray
  • Malacothrix platyphylla A.Gray

A. platyphylla is native to the deserts of the southwestern United States (southern California, Arizona, Nevada and the southwestern corner of Utah) and northwestern Mexico (Sonora, Baja California).[4][5][6]

The plant produces a low basal rosette of rounded leaves patterned with gray-green and purple patches at ground level. It sends up a weedy-looking thin branching stem up to 70 centimetres (28 inches) tall, topped with a number of attractive, fragrant white or pink-tinged flowers, about 2.5–5 cm (1–2 in) wide,[4] the layered ray florets rectangular and toothed.[5][6] The flowers bloom between February and May.[4] The hairless fruit has the shape of a five-sided club.[4]

The genus name, Atrichoseris, means 'chicory plant without hairs', referring to the fruit, and the specific epithet, platyphylla, means 'flat-leaved'.[4]

Gravel ghosts in Death Valley National Park, March 2005.

References
  1. Tropicos, Atrichoseris A. Gray
  2. Gray, Asa. 1884. Synoptical Flora of North America 1(2): 410
  3. Flora of North America, Atrichoseris A. Gray in A. Gray et al., Syn. Fl. N. Amer. 1(2): 410. 1884.
  4. Spellenberg, Richard (2001) [1979]. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers: Western Region (rev ed.). Knopf. p. 357. ISBN 978-0-375-40233-3.
  5. Jepson Manual Treatment
  6. Photo gallery


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