Flora of North America species comparison

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Acourtia runcinata

Acourtia thurberi

desert paeonia, featherleaf desertpeony

Thurber's desertpeony
Habit Plants 5–35 cm. Plants 40–150 cm (stems sulcate to striate distally, densely glandular).
Leaves

basal;

petioles 0.5–9 cm;

blades oblong-oblanceolate, 2.5–23 cm, bases cuneate, margins pinnately lobed (lobes ovate), spinulose-dentate, apices acute, faces hirtellous and/or finely stipitate-glandular.

cauline and/or basal;

sessile;

blades ovate to ovate-elliptic, 1.5 (cauline)–18 (basal) cm, bases shortly sagittate or clasping, margins acerose-denticulate, faces densely glandular-puberulent.
Involucres

turbinate, 14–17 mm.

obconic to campanulate, 7–9 mm.
Receptacles

reticulate, hispidulous.

alveolate, glandular.
Florets

25–53;

corollas pink or lavender-pink, 12–22 mm.

3–6;

corollas lavender-pink (purple), 7–12 mm.
Phyllaries

in 2–4 series, lanceolate to subulate (3–15 mm), margins glandular-hairy, apices acuminate, abaxial faces glandular.

in 2–3 series, oblong-oblanceolate, apices acuminate, abaxial faces densely glandular-hairy.
Heads

borne singly or 2–3 together (on scapiform peduncles).

in subcongested corymbiform arrays.
Cypselae

fusiform to linear-fusiform, 4–8 mm, stipitate-glandular and/or hispidulous;

pappi tan or white, 1–17 mm.

subcylindric to subfusiform, 3–7 mm, glandular;

pappi bright white, 8–9 mm (rigid).
2n

= ca. 54.

= 54.

Acourtia runcinata

Acourtia thurberi
Phenology Flowering year round (mostly Mar–Aug). Flowering Oct–Nov.
Habitat Juniper forests, oak woodlands, dry matorral, desert scrub on calcareous, sandy clay, and gypsiferous soils Gravel and caliche soils in warm Sonoran desert scrub
Elevation 0–1600 m (0–5200 ft) 100–200 m (300–700 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
TX; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Hidalgo, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; NM; Mexico (Chihuahua, Durango, Sonora)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Acourtia runcinata is the most widespread species of the genus, within which it is unique in possessing fasciculate, tuberous-fusiform roots. In the flora, it grows in central and southwestern Texas.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 19, p. 73. FNA vol. 19, p. 74.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Mutisieae > Acourtia Asteraceae > tribe Mutisieae > Acourtia
Sibling taxa
A. microcephala, A. nana, A. thurberi, A. wrightii
A. microcephala, A. nana, A. runcinata, A. wrightii
Synonyms Clarionia runcinata Perezia thurberi
Name authority (D. Don) B. L. Turner: Phytologia 38: 460. (1978) (A. Gray) Reveal & R. M. King: Phytologia 27: 231. (1973)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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