Hymenopappus filifolius
Encyclopedia
Hymenopappus filifolius is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family
known by the common names fineleaf hymenopappus and Columbia cutleaf. It is native to western North America
from west central Canada
to northern Mexico
. It grows in a number of habitats, often in arid
regions. The plant is variable in appearance and there are a great number of varieties of the species. It is a taproot
ed perennial
herb
growing as a small clump on the ground to an erect spray of stems up to a meter tall. Almost all of the leaves are located at the base of the plant in a woolly gray-green patch. They are up to 20 centimeters long and are divided into blunt, thready leaflets. They are glandular and thinly hairy to quite woolly, and dark green under the coat of white wool. The stem ends in a branching inflorescence
of knob-shaped discoid flower heads
. They are filled with golden yellow or white disc florets. There are no ray florets.
There are many varieties, including:
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 names fineleaf hymenopappus and Columbia cutleaf. It is native to western North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
from west central Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
to northern Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. It grows in a number of habitats, often in arid
Arid
A region is said to be arid when it is characterized by a severe lack of available water, to the extent of hindering or even preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life...
regions. The plant is variable in appearance and there are a great number of varieties of the species. It is a taproot
Taproot
A taproot is an enlarged, somewhat straight to tapering plant root that grows vertically downward. It forms a center from which other roots sprout laterally.Plants with taproots are difficult to transplant...
ed perennial
Perennial plant
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...
herb
Herb
Except in botanical usage, an herb is "any plant with leaves, seeds, or flowers used for flavoring, food, medicine, or perfume" or "a part of such a plant as used in cooking"...
growing as a small clump on the ground to an erect spray of stems up to a meter tall. Almost all of the leaves are located at the base of the plant in a woolly gray-green patch. They are up to 20 centimeters long and are divided into blunt, thready leaflets. They are glandular and thinly hairy to quite woolly, and dark green under the coat of white wool. The stem ends in a branching inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
of knob-shaped discoid flower heads
Head (botany)
The capitulum is considered the most derived form of inflorescence. Flower heads found outside Asteraceae show lesser degrees of specialization....
. They are filled with golden yellow or white disc florets. There are no ray florets.
There are many varieties, including:
- H. f. var. eriopodus - a white-flowered variety native from CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
to UtahUtahUtah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the... - H. f. var. filifolius - found mostly in the Pacific NorthwestPacific NorthwestThe Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
- H. f. var. idahoensis - (Idaho hymenopappus) - endemic to IdahoIdahoIdaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
- H. f. var. nudipes - (alpine hymenopappus) - known from UtahUtahUtah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
and WyomingWyomingWyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High... - H. f. var. parvulus - endemic to ColoradoColoradoColorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...