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nipplewort

Habit Herbs annual, 15–150 cm, sap milky; fibrous-rooted.
Stems

erect; leafy throughout, branched distally, glabrous or with scattered soft, white hairs.

Leaves

ovate, 1–15+ × 1–10 cm;

margins usually irregularly dentate;

surfaces glabrous or lightly hairy;

petioles often with 1 or more pairs of leaflets.

Inflorescences

terminal panicle-like arrays.

Involucres

narrowly ovoid.

Receptacles

flat; smooth, glabrous;

paleae 0.

Florets

6–15; bisexual;

ligules 4–12 mm; well exceeding involucres, yellow;

stamens 5.

Phyllaries

8–10; in 1 series with a few small outer; erect; lance-oblong, 3–9 mm; midribs thickened toward bases;

tips acute;

surfaces glabrous.

Fruits

tapering toward bases and tips, curved, 3–5 mm; outer sometimes much longer than inner, pale brown, glabrous;

ribs ~20;

pappi 0.

Heads

5–50+, ligulate;

peduncles sometimes minutely bracteolate.

2n

=12, 14, 16.

Lapsana communis

Distribution
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Forests, roadsides, disturbed areas. Flowering Jun–Oct. 0–1300 m. BW, Casc, CR, Est, Sisk, WV. CA, ID, WA; north to AK, northeast to Newfoundland, east to MA, southeast to VA; Asia, Europe. Exotic.

This species is a common introduced weed of gardens and disturbed areas.

Source Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 299
Kenton Chambers
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