Hazardia detonsa
Encyclopedia
Hazardia detonsa is a rare species of shrub
in the daisy family
known by the common name island bristleweed. It is endemic to three of the eight Channel Islands of California
. This is a bushy shrub reaching 60 centimeters to 2.5 meters in height. It has densely woolly, glandular herbage of thick, serrated, oval-shaped leaves up to 14 centimeters long. At the ends of its whitish stems it produces bell-shaped flower heads
each about a centimeter long. Each flower head has several rows of white woolly phyllaries
and an open end revealing disc florets and longer protruding ray florets. The florets are yellow and may age to red or purple. The main threat to this species on Santa Cruz Island
was the presence of feral Santa Cruz sheep
. The sheep were removed, allowing the plant to begin its recovery there.
Shrub
A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
in the daisy family
Asteraceae
The Asteraceae or Compositae , is an exceedingly large and widespread family of vascular plants. The group has more than 22,750 currently accepted species, spread across 1620 genera and 12 subfamilies...
known by the common name island bristleweed. It is endemic to three of the eight Channel Islands of California
Channel Islands of California
The Channel Islands of California are a chain of eight islands located in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Southern California along the Santa Barbara Channel in the United States of America...
. This is a bushy shrub reaching 60 centimeters to 2.5 meters in height. It has densely woolly, glandular herbage of thick, serrated, oval-shaped leaves up to 14 centimeters long. At the ends of its whitish stems it produces bell-shaped flower heads
Head (botany)
The capitulum is considered the most derived form of inflorescence. Flower heads found outside Asteraceae show lesser degrees of specialization....
each about a centimeter long. Each flower head has several rows of white woolly phyllaries
Bract
In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis, or cone scale. Bracts are often different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of a different color, shape, or texture...
and an open end revealing disc florets and longer protruding ray florets. The florets are yellow and may age to red or purple. The main threat to this species on Santa Cruz Island
Santa Cruz Island
Santa Cruz Island was the largest privately owned island off the continental United States, but is currently part-owned by the National Park service . The island, located off the coast of California, is long and from wide...
was the presence of feral Santa Cruz sheep
Santa Cruz sheep
Santa Cruz sheep are an extremely rare breed of domestic sheep that once existed as a feral population on the Santa Cruz Island of the Channel Islands of California. Small and hardy, the sheep were all killed or removed from the island to prevent destruction of natural habitats. Today, they number...
. The sheep were removed, allowing the plant to begin its recovery there.