Crepis acuminata explained

Crepis acuminata is a North American species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name tapertip hawksbeard. It is native to the western United States where it grows in many types of open habitat.[1] [2]

Description

Crepis acuminata is a perennial herb producing a woolly, branching stem up to about 70 centimeters (28 inches) tall from a taproot. The gray-green leaves are NaNcm (-2,147,483,648inches) long[3] and cut into many triangular, pointed lobes.

The longest, near the base of the plant, may reach 40cm (20inches) in length. The inflorescence is an open array of flower heads at the top of the stem branches. Each of the many flower heads is about NaNcm (-2,147,483,648inches) wide enveloped in smooth or hairy phyllaries. The flower head opens into a face of up to 10 yellow ray florets. There are no disc florets. The fruit is a narrow achene NaNmm long tipped with a pappus of white hairlike bristles.[4]

Distribution and habitat

It is native from eastern Washington and eastern California to central Montana, Colorado, and northern New Mexico. It can be found in dry and open areas in sagebrush habitats and coniferous forests.

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://bonap.net/MapGallery/County/Crepis%20acuminata.png Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map
  2. http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-taxon=Crepis+acuminata Calflora taxon report, University of California, Crepis acuminata Nutt., Long Leaved Hawk's Beard, Tall hawksbeard, long leaved hawksbeard, tapertip hawksbeard
  3. Book: Spellenberg, Richard . National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers: Western Region . Knopf . 2001 . 978-0-375-40233-3 . rev . 368 . 1979.
  4. http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250066438 Flora of North America, Longleaf or tapertip hawksbeard, Crepis acuminata Nuttall, Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. 7: 437. 1841.