Chaenactis macrantha
Chaenactis stevioides
big-head dusty maidens, bighead dustymaiden, large-flower chaenactis, Mohave pincushion, Mojave pincushion, showy dustymaidens
broad-flower chaenactis, desert or Esteve or broad-flower pincushion, desert pincushion, Esteve pincushion, Esteve's pincushion, Steve's dustymaiden
mostly 1–5;
branches mainly proximal.
1–12 (sometimes decumbent);
branches proximal and/or distal.
basal (withering) and cauline, 1.5–7 cm;
largest blades ± elliptic to ovate, ± plane, not succulent, 1(–2)-pinnately lobed (± gland-dotted beneath indument);
primary lobes mostly 2–5 pairs, ± remote, ultimate lobes ± plane.
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.
1.5–8 cm, arachnoid-sericeous to thinly lanuginose distally, not stipitate-glandular.
1–5(–10) cm, usually stipitate-glandular distally and, often, ± arachnoid.
± obconic to broadly cylindric.
± hemispheric to obconic (bases green, rounded in fruit).
corollas (nocturnal) white to pinkish or cream, 9–12(–15) mm (lengths 1.8–2.2 times cypselae; anthers ± included);
peripheral corollas nocturnally spreading, actinomorphic, scarcely enlarged.
corollas white to pinkish, cream, or pale yellow, 4.5–6.5 mm (inner);
peripheral corollas spreading, zygomorphic, enlarged.
longest 12–18 mm;
outer arachnoid-sericeous to thinly lanuginose in fruit, not stipitate-glandular, apices ± squarrose, blunt, pliant.
longest 5.5–8(–10) mm;
outer stipitate-glandular and/or ± arachnoid in fruit, apices erect, blunt, ± rigid.
(± radiant, nocturnally), mostly 1–5(–7) per stem (nodding in bud).
(± radiant) mostly 3–20+ per stem.
5–6(–7) mm;
pappi of 8 scales in 2, abruptly unequal series, longest scales 5–7 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).
= 12.
= 10.
Chaenactis macrantha
Chaenactis stevioides
Though the derived floral features of Chaenactis macrantha obscure its relationships, it may represent a link between sect. Chaenactis (annuals; pappus scales in regular, often strongly reduced series) and sect. Macrocarphus (leaf blades gland-dotted). Resemblance of its heads, leaves, and indument to those of C. thompsonii and relatives is striking. It appears to form no natural hybrids, perhaps because of its nocturnal corollas.
(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.)
CA
OR
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
SW CO Wildflowers
