Flora of North America species comparison

1–3+, erect, coarse, villous.

1–3, ascending to erect, often purple, simple, flexuous, proximally glabrescent or sparsely villous, distally ± densely villous.

strongly basal and cauline, coriaceous, margins indurate, entire to remotely spinose-serrate, remotely and obscurely scabridulous, spines indurate-margined or wholly indurate, finely parallel-veined with evident midnerves, apices acute, revolute, indurate, abaxial faces glabrous;

basal and proximal cauline persistent (bases ± marcescent when leaves deciduous), petioles scarcely distinct, blades linear (grasslike), 70–350 × 3–8 mm, adaxial faces glabrous;

cauline sessile, blades linear to lance-linear, 15–130 × 1.5–7 mm, progressively reduced and more spinose distally, adaxial faces progressively more villous distally.

cauline, firm, margins slightly revolute, coarsely serrate or (distal) entire, scabrous to strigoso-ciliate, teeth mucronate, ± markedly veined, apices mucronate, abaxial faces scabrous, adaxial scabroso-strigose;

proximal mostly withering by flowering, petioles winged, shorter than blades, bases clasping, blades elliptic to obovate 12–45+ × 7–20+ mm, smaller than mid, apices obtuse;

mid narrowly winged-petiolate (petioles short with ± clasping bases), distally subpetiolate or sessile, blades ovate or elliptic to broadly oblanceolate or obovate, 32–85(–130) × 4–40 mm, gradually reduced distally, bases usually attenuate, sometimes cuneate, apices obtuse to acute;

distal (arrays) oblanceolate to lanceolate, 5–28 × 1–8 mm, more sharply reduced.

± densely villous, sometimes sparsely stipitate-glandular distally;

bracts 0–7, appressed, lanceolate, bases ± indurate, margins spinose, adaxial faces villous.

densely villous;

bracts 0–1, scabroso-strigose.

campanulo-hemispheric, 9–12 mm, slightly shorter than pappi.

campanulate, 6–9 mm, shorter than pappi.

25–60;

corollas white or pinkish, coiling, 10–20 × 1–2.1 mm.

10–15;

corollas white to sometimes pale violet or purple, 8.5–11(–13) × 1.3–2.3 mm.

115–260;

corollas yellow, 5.5–7 mm, slightly ampliate, tubes shorter than tubular throats, lobes 0.75–1 mm, erect, lanceolate.

30–70;

corollas yellow becoming purple- or pinkish-tinged, 6–7(–8) mm, ± ampliate, tubes equaling to longer than funnelform-campanulate throats, lobes usually erect, sometimes ± spreading, lanceolate, 1–1.3 mm.

70–140 in 4–5 series, greenish, densely thick-nerved, lanceolate to linear (innermost), unequal, coriaceous, bases indurate and rounded (outer), margins entire, indurate or ± scarious, erose (inner), sometimes sparsely villoso-ciliate, ± densely stipitate-glandular, apices squarrose, green and often purplish-tinged, foliaceous, long-acuminate, adaxial faces villosulous, rarely also sparsely stipitate-glandular.

38–62 in 4–5 series, midnerves slightly raised (outer), oblong (outer) to lanceolate-linear or linear (inner), unequal, membranous, bases indurate, ± rounded, green zones to scarious margins in distal 1/3–1/2 (outer; seldom ± wholly foliaceous) to 1/5 or none (inner), margins often purple, hyaline, narrowly scarious, erose, densely villoso-ciliate, apices appressed, sometimes purplish-tinged, usually acute, sometimes obtuse, adaxial faces villous.

1–11+, borne singly or in racemiform arrays, branches ascending to erect, stiff.

5–30+ in flat-topped, corymbiform arrays.

straw-colored, ellipsoid to obovoid, 2–3.5 mm, ribs 11–13 prominent, glabrous;

pappi of (ca. 35) orangish tan (coarse, sometimes clavellate) bristles 7.8–8.2 mm, slightly longer than disc corollas.

tawny, fusiform, 3–3.5 mm, slightly compressed, ribs 7–9 (brown, translucent), faces strigillose;

pappi of tawny bristles 2.7–3 mm, ± equaling disc corollas.

= 18, 27.