Malacothrix glabrata explained

Malacothrix glabrata, commonly known as the smooth desert dandelion or desert dandelion, is an annual plant with yellow flowers that appears in western North America.

Description

Like other members of its genus, Malacothrix glabrata has a milky sap and daisy-like flower heads. The plants grow to 5to tall. The leaves are NaNcm (-2,147,483,648inches) long, with stringy lobes.[1] The fragrant flower heads are NaNcm (-2,147,483,648inches) wide, composed of smaller yellow to white strap-like flowers called "ligules".[2] In the center of the flower head may be an orange to red "button", composed of several immature flowers.[3]

Taxonomy

It is a dicot in the family Asteraceae. The name "glabrata" refers to the leaves being (nearly) hairless.

Distribution and habitat

The species is native to the western United States, excluding much of the Pacific Northwest, and into northern Mexico. It is common to the southwestern deserts of North America.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Spellenberg, Richard . National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers: Western Region . Knopf . 2001 . 978-0-375-40233-3 . rev. . 388 . 1979.
  2. Morhardt, Sia; Morhardt, Emil (2004). California Desert Wildflowers, University of California Press, pp. 64–65
  3. Susan J. Wernert, Reader's Digest Association, Brenda Jackson. North American Wildlife: An Illustrated Guide to 2,000 Plants and Animals. Reader's Digest, 1998. p.467.