Chaenactis douglasii
Chaenactis stevioides
chaenactis, Douglas' dusty maidens, Douglas' dustymaiden, hoary chaenactis, hoary false-yarrow, hoary pincushion
broad-flower chaenactis, desert or Esteve or broad-flower pincushion, desert pincushion, Esteve pincushion, Esteve's pincushion, Steve's dustymaiden
1–25+, erect to spreading.
1–12 (sometimes decumbent);
branches proximal and/or distal.
basal, or basal (sometimes withering) and ± cauline, (1–)2–12(–15) cm;
largest blades ± elliptic or slightly lanceolate to ovate, ± 3-dimensional, usually 2-pinnately lobed;
primary lobes (4–)5–9(–12) pairs, ± congested, scarcely imbricate, ultimate lobes ± involute and/or twisted.
basal (usually withering) and ± cauline, 1–8(–10) cm;
largest blades ± elliptic, ± 3-dimensional, usually not succulent, mostly 1–2-pinnately lobed;
primary lobes 4–8 pairs, remote or ± congested, ultimate lobes ± involute and/or twisted.
mostly ascending to erect, 1–10 cm.
1–5(–10) cm, usually stipitate-glandular distally and, often, ± arachnoid.
obconic to ± hemispheric.
± hemispheric to obconic (bases green, rounded in fruit).
corollas white to pinkish, cream, or pale yellow, 4.5–6.5 mm (inner);
peripheral corollas spreading, zygomorphic, enlarged.
5–8 mm.
longest 9–15(–17) mm;
outer usually stipitate-glandular (sometimes sparsely or obscurely, rarely eglandular) and, often, arachnoid to lanuginose and, sometimes, sparsely villous, apices usually ± squarrose, pliant.
longest 5.5–8(–10) mm;
outer stipitate-glandular and/or ± arachnoid in fruit, apices erect, blunt, ± rigid.
1–25+ per stem.
(± radiant) mostly 3–20+ per stem.
5–8 mm (usually sparsely glandular amidst other indument);
pappi: longest scales 3–6 mm.
(3–)4–6.5 mm;
pappi of (1–)4(–5) scales, usually in 1 series, rarely with partial outer, abruptly unequal series, longest scales 1.5–6 mm, lengths mostly 0.3–0.9 times corollas (apices hidden among corollas at flowering).
= 10.
Chaenactis douglasii
Chaenactis stevioides
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).
Chaenactis douglasii is widespread and variable (see discussion under var. douglasii).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Chaenactis stevioides is found throughout the southwestern deserts; it is among the most abundant spring wildflowers in the higher Mojave Desert and southern Great Basin. It also extends seaward into west-central California. It has been reported in New York as a garden escape; it is not expected to persist there outside cultivation.
Chaenactis stevioides varies in more or less concentric zones. Plants from the core zone (centered on the Great Basin and Mojave Desert) typically have pappi and phyllaries relatively short and phyllaries predominantly stipitate-glandular (var. brachypappa). Surrounding this zone to the southwest, southeast, and northeast are plants with pappi and phyllaries relatively long and phyllaries evidently or predominantly lanuginose (var. stevioides). Scattered on the periphery in central Arizona, Baja California, and west-central and southwestern California (where hybrids may be involved; see sectional discussion) are mesophytic forms with relatively long and/or broad leaf divisions, corollas varying from white to pale yellow, and pappi and phyllaries like those of var. brachypappa (var. thornberi, C. gillespiei). An unnamed form with leaves arachnoid but otherwise like C. fremontii occurs around sand dunes in the Mojave Desert. Chaenactis furcata and C. latifolia are forms possibly influenced by C. fremontii genes, unusual substrates, or pathogens. Traits of all the above taxa are inconsistent within populations, and/or recurrent or recombinant elsewhere in the range of C. stevioides.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Leaves basal (sometimes withering) and ± cauline; plants not or scarcely cespitose, not matted; stems usually 1–5(–12); heads (1–)2–25+ per stem | var. douglasii |
1. Leaves strictly basal; plants cespitose or ± matted; stems (1–)10–25+; heads 1(–2) per stem | var. alpina |
- Local floras:
BC, 
CA, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos,
Flora NW, 
PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
SW CO Wildflowers
