Encelia farinosa
Encelia
brittlebush, incienso
brittlebush
branched distally, tomentose, developing smooth barks.
erect, usually branched from bases, often throughout (scapiform in E. nutans and E. scaposa).
cauline (clustered near stem tips);
petioles 10–20 mm;
blades silver or gray, ovate to lanceolate, 20–70 mm, apices obtuse or acute, faces tomentose.
usually cauline, sometimes basal (E. nutans and E. scaposa); alternate (usually drought-deciduous); petiolate (obscurely in E. scaposa);
blades (1- or 3-nerved) mostly deltate, lanceolate, rhombic, or ovate (narrowly oblanceolate to linear in E. scaposa), bases broadly to narrowly cuneate, margins usually entire, rarely toothed, face glabrous or canescent, hirtellous, scabrellous, strigose, or tomentose, often gland-dotted as well.
glabrous except near heads (± yellow).
4–10 mm.
± hemispheric or broader, 4–22 mm diam.
flat or convex, paleate (paleae ± conduplicate, folded around and falling with cypselae).
11–21;
corolla laminae 8–12 mm.
0 or 8–25(–40), neuter;
corollas yellow.
yellow or brown-purple, 5–6 mm.
80–100(–200+), bisexual, fertile;
corollas yellow or brown-purple, tubes shorter than to equaling abruptly expanded throats, lobes 5, triangular.
lanceolate.
persistent, 18–30(–50+) in 2–3+ series (subequal to unequal, outer shorter).
in paniculiform arrays (branching among heads mainly distal).
radiate or discoid, borne singly or in ± paniculiform arrays (peduncles usually longer than involucres).
3–6 mm;
pappi 0.
strongly compressed, obovate to cuneate (margins ciliate, apices usually ± notched except in E. scaposa, faces usually glabrous except in E. scaposa);
pappi usually 0, sometimes readily falling or persistent, of 2 bristlelike awns.
= 18.
= 36.
Encelia farinosa
Encelia
Plants of Encelia farinosa with brown-purple disc corollas, found along the Colorado and Salt rivers, and common in Baja California, are var. phenicodonta. Plants with substrigose leaves, capitulescences branched toward bases rather than distally, and ray florets reduced in both size and number are most often hybrids and backcrosses between E. farinosa and E. frutescens. P. A. Munz (1959) indicated that I. L. Wiggins had reported var. radians Brandegee ex S. F. Blake as occurring in southeastern California; that variety is known only from Baja California.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Species 13 or 14 (8 in the flora).
Encelias commonly hybridize, especially in disturbed areas: Encelia farinosa × E. frutescens is common; E. farinosa × E. californica, E. farinosa × E. actoni, E. actoni × E. frutescens, E. frutescens × E. virginensis, and E. farinosa × Geraea canescens have been reported.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Perennials; leaves all or mostly basal | → 2 |
1. Subshrubs or shrubs; leaves cauline | → 3 |
2. Ray florets 20–40 | E. scaposa |
2. Ray florets 0 (heads nodding in fruit) | E. nutans |
3. Ray florets 0 | E. frutescens |
3. Ray florets 8–25 | → 4 |
4. Heads in paniculiform arrays; leaves tomentose to strigose | → 5 |
4. Heads borne singly; leaves glabrous or canescent, scabrous, and/or strigose (not tomentose) | → 6 |
5. Leaves tomentose (branching among heads mainly distal; ray florets 11–21, corolla laminae 8–12 mm) | E. farinosa |
5. Leaves tomentose to strigose (branching among heads mainly proximal; ray florets fewer and smaller) | frutescens (see 8 Encelia farinosa) |
6. Leaves glabrous or glabrate; disc corollas brown (ray laminae lengths 1.5–2 times disc diams.) | E. californica |
6. Leaves scabrous, strigose, and/or canescent; disc corollas yellow (ray laminae lengths 1–1.2 times disc diams.) | → 7 |
7. Leaves scabrous to strigose (not canescent) | E. resinifera |
7. Leaves canescent, sometimes strigose as well | → 8 |
8. Leaves sparsely canescent and strigose; rays 11–21, laminae 8–15 mm (relatively deeply toothed) | E. virginensis |
8. Leaves ± silvery-canescent (not strigose); rays 14–25, laminae 10–25 mm (relatively shallowly toothed) | E. actoni |
CA
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
