Chaenactis stevioides
Chaenactis alpigena
broad-flower chaenactis, desert or Esteve or broad-flower pincushion, desert pincushion, Esteve pincushion, Esteve's pincushion, Steve's dustymaiden
Sharsmith or southern Sierra or mountain pincushion, Sharsmith pincushion, southern Sierra chaenactis, southern Sierra pincushion
1–12 (sometimes decumbent);
branches proximal and/or distal.
mostly 5–15+, erect to prostrate.
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.
basal, 1–2.5(–3.5) cm;
largest blades linear or broadly elliptic to slightly obovate, ± plane or 3-dimensional, (0–)1–2-pinnately or -subpalmately lobed;
primary lobes 2–7 pairs, ± congested, ultimate lobes ± plane to involute and twisted.
1–5(–10) cm, usually stipitate-glandular distally and, often, ± arachnoid.
mostly prostrate, (0.5–)2–7(–10) cm.
± hemispheric to obconic (bases green, rounded in fruit).
obconic to ± cylindric.
corollas white to pinkish, cream, or pale yellow, 4.5–6.5 mm (inner);
peripheral corollas spreading, zygomorphic, enlarged.
5.5–8 mm.
longest 5.5–8(–10) mm;
outer stipitate-glandular and/or ± arachnoid in fruit, apices erect, blunt, ± rigid.
longest 9–14 mm;
outer ± lanuginose, not stipitate-glandular, apices erect, ± rigid.
(± radiant) mostly 3–20+ per stem.
1 per stem.
(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).
5–8 mm (eglandular);
pappi: longest scales 5–8 mm (lengths 0.9–1 times corollas).
= 10.
Chaenactis stevioides
Chaenactis alpigena
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.)
Chaenactis alpigena is known from the central and southern Sierra Nevada and adjacent northern White Mountains. It is sometimes cultivated in rock gardens and may be found beyond its native range. It appears to be sister to C. thompsonii and/or C. evermannii.
Chaenactis alpigena shows clinal variation; northward the leaves tend to be ± plane, (0–)1-subpalmately lobed, lobes 2–5 pairs, ± plane; southward the leaves tend to be ± 3-dimensional, 1–2-pinnately lobed, primary lobes 4–7 pairs, ultimate lobes ± involute, twisted. Leaves of intermediate forms tend to be ± plane, 1-pinnately lobed, lobes mostly 4–5 pairs, ± plane. The variation is gradual and does not support recognition of infraspecific taxa. Throughout its range, occasional plants of C. alpigena are green and glabrate.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
CA
OR
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
SW CO Wildflowers
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
