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nipplewort

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

Lapsana

Distribution
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county 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.

Genus composed of one species, L. communis.

Source Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 299
Kenton Chambers
Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 299
Kenton Chambers
Subordinate taxa
L. communis
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