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Cooper's goldenbush

serpentine goldenbush, serpentine macronema

Habit Plants 10–30 cm.
Stems

erect to spreading, green when young, becoming reddish brown, intricately branched, glabrous or sparsely hairy, sometimes resinous.

Leaves

ascending to spreading;

blades linear (slightly concave), usually recurved, 5–15 × 0.5–1.5 mm, midnerves evident abaxially, apices acute, usually mucronate, faces glabrous or sparsely hairy, gland-dotted (not in deep pits), ± resinous;

axillary fascicles of 4–7 leaves usually present.

Peduncles

1–10 mm (glabrous or with conic hairs, resinous).

Involucres

subcylindric, 10–15 × 3–7 mm.

Ray florets

0.

Disc florets

5–6;

corollas 9–10.5 mm.

Phyllaries

18–30 in 5–7 series, tan, ovate to elliptic, 2–12 × 1–2.5 mm, unequal, mostly chartaceous, occasionally herbaceous-tipped (mid bodies apically obtuse to truncate), appendages usually herbaceous, often spreading to recurved, midnerves faint, (margins membranous, fimbriate distally, otherwise sometimes ciliolate) apices acute to cuspidate, abaxial faces mostly resinous.

Heads

borne singly or (2–7) in cymiform arrays (clusters 3–20 mm).

Cypselae

tan to brown, turbinate to narrowly oblanceolate, 5–7 mm (ribs 5–7), moderately hairy distally;

pappi off-white to brown, 9–10.5 mm.

Ericameria cooperi

Ericameria ophitidis

Phenology Flowering summer–fall.
Habitat Open coniferous forest, usually on serpentine soil, Arid Transition Zone
Elevation 1500–1700 m (4900–5600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; NV; nw Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 2 (1 in the flora).

Ericameria cooperi var. bajacalifornica (Urbatsch & Wussow) Urbatsch is known only from Mexico (Baja California).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Ericameria ophitidisis is known from northern California.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 20, p. 56. FNA vol. 20, p. 70.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Ericameria Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Ericameria
Sibling taxa
E. albida, E. arborescens, E. arizonica, E. bloomeri, E. brachylepis, E. cervina, E. compacta, E. crispa, E. cuneata, E. discoidea, E. ericoides, E. fasciculata, E. gilmanii, E. greenei, E. laricifolia, E. lignumviridis, E. linearifolia, E. linearis, E. nana, E. nauseosa, E. obovata, E. ophitidis, E. palmeri, E. paniculata, E. parishii, E. parryi, E. pinifolia, E. resinosa, E. suffruticosa, E. teretifolia, E. watsonii, E. winwardii, E. zionis
E. albida, E. arborescens, E. arizonica, E. bloomeri, E. brachylepis, E. cervina, E. compacta, E. cooperi, E. crispa, E. cuneata, E. discoidea, E. ericoides, E. fasciculata, E. gilmanii, E. greenei, E. laricifolia, E. lignumviridis, E. linearifolia, E. linearis, E. nana, E. nauseosa, E. obovata, E. palmeri, E. paniculata, E. parishii, E. parryi, E. pinifolia, E. resinosa, E. suffruticosa, E. teretifolia, E. watsonii, E. winwardii, E. zionis
Subordinate taxa
E. cooperi var. cooperi
Synonyms Bigelowia cooperi, Haplopappus cooperi Haplopappus bloomeri var. ophitidis, Haplopappus ophitidis
Name authority (A. Gray) H. M. Hall: Univ. Calif. Publ. Bot. 3: 56. (1907) (J. T. Howell) G. L. Nesom: Phytologia 68: 153. (1990)
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