Helenium flexuosum
Asteraceae tribe Heliantheae subtribe Gaillardiinae
hélénie nudiflore, purple sneezeweed, purple-head sneezeweed
usually 1, usually branched distally, strongly winged, glabrous or sparsely hairy proximally, sparsely to moderately hairy distally.
glabrous or sparsely to moderately hairy;
basal blades oblanceolate to obovate or spatulate, entire or serrate;
proximal and mid blades oblanceolate to lanceolate, entire or toothed;
distal blades lanceolate to lance-linear, entire.
basal, basal and cauline, or cauline; alternate; petiolate or sessile;
blades mostly elliptic, filiform, lanceolate, linear, oblong, ovate, or spatulate, often 1–2-pinnately or -ternately lobed, ultimate margins entire or toothed, faces glabrous or hairy, usually gland-dotted.
3–10 cm, sparsely to moderately hairy.
globoid to usually ovoid, 8–17 × 9–17 mm.
mostly campanulate, cylindric, hemispheric, obconic, or ± rotate.
mostly conic, convex, flat, globose, hemispheric, or ovoid, epaleate (smooth or slightly to deeply pitted, sometimes with setiform enations, sometimes gland-dotted; outer disc florets rarely subtended by paleae in Amblyolepis).
usually 8–13, neuter, sometimes 0;
corollas yellow to reddish brown to red to purple, 10–20 × 5–10 mm.
0, or 1–55 (in 1–3 series), pistillate and fertile, or styliferous and sterile, or neuter;
corollas mostly yellow to orange, sometimes wholly or partly purple, red-brown, or reddish.
250–500(–700+);
corollas yellow proximally and purple distally or purple throughout, 2.3–3.7 mm, lobes 4(–5).
5–250+, usually bisexual and fertile, rarely functionally staminate;
corollas yellow, orange, or wholly or partly purple, red-brown, or reddish, tubes much shorter than to about equaling slightly to abruptly and greatly dilated, funnelform to campanulate or urceolate throats, lobes 5, deltate to lance-deltate (equal or unequal, often attenuate, glabrous, papillate, or hairy, hairs sometimes moniliform);
anther thecae pale;
stigmatic papillae in 2 lines.
(connate proximally) moderately to densely hairy.
persistent, 5–50+ in 2–3+ series, distinct or outer connate, mostly elliptic, lanceolate, linear, oblanceolate, oblong, or ovate, subequal or unequal (erect or reflexed in fruit, usually herbaceous to scarious, margins seldom scarious).
0.
(1–)5–50(–80+) per plant, in paniculiform arrays.
mostly radiate or discoid (rarely radiant), usually borne singly, sometimes in glomerules or corymbiform arrays.
1–1.2 mm, moderately hairy;
pappi of 5–6 entire, aristate scales 0.6–1(–1.7) mm.
usually obpyramidal, sometimes clavate, columnar, or obconic (lengths usually 1–2.5, rarely to 3.5 diams.), mostly densely and shaggily hairy, sometimes sparsely hairy or glabrate;
pappi usually persistent, of 2–12 scales, sometimes 0 or of 35–150 bristles (Psathyrotes).
= 28.
Helenium flexuosum
Asteraceae tribe Heliantheae subtribe Gaillardiinae
It has been suggested that Helenium flexuosum may be of hybrid origin from H. campestre (perennial, 2n = 28) and some member of Helenium sect. Tetrodus (H. F. L. Rock 1957). The only member of sect. Tetrodus that has a chromosome number of 2n = 28 is H. linifolium, an annual from southern Texas.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Genera 12, species 123 (11 genera, 73 species in the flora).
The circumscription of Gaillardiinae adopted here is that of H. Robinson (1981). In studies of epaleate Heliantheae, B. G. Baldwin adopted a narrower circumscription of the subtribe (Baldwin and B. L. Wessa 2000; Baldwin et al. 2002). Gaillardiinae in sense of Baldwin includes Balduina, Gaillardia, and Helenium; dispositions by Baldwin of other genera of Gaillardiinae in the broad sense include: Plateilema in Plateileminae, Psathyrotes and Trichoptilium in Psathyrotinae, and Amblyolepis, Baileya, Hymenoxys, Psilostrophe, and Tetraneuris in Tetraneuriinae (all in Helenieae sensu Baldwin).
Psilostrophinae B. L. Turner & A. M. Powell is a superfluous name (circumscription included type of Riddelliinae O. Hoffmann).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Pappi of 35–150 distinct or basally connate bristles in 1–4 series | Psathyrotes |
1. Pappi 0 or of 2–12 scales | → 2 |
2. Pappi of 5 ovate to flabellate, deeply and finely lacerate scales (each seemingly consti-tuted of 8–15+ connate bristles) | Trichoptilium |
2. Pappi 0 or of 2–12 ovate or spatulate to lanceolate, entire, erose, or coarsely lacerate, often attenuate or uniaristate scales | → 3 |
3. Receptacles deeply pitted (each cypsela nested within a 5–6-sided cell) | Balduina |
3. Receptacles smooth or ± pitted (sometimes with scattered subulate to setiform enations, cypselae not nested within cells; outer disc florets rarely subtended by paleae in Amblyolepis). | → 4 |
4. Phyllaries 17–21 in 2 series (inner hyaline, scalelike; herbage notably sweet scented) | Amblyolepis |
4. Phyllaries 5–50 in 2–3 series (inner herbaceous to scarious or scarious-margined; herbage not notably sweet-scented) | → 5 |
5. Phyllaries usually strongly reflexed in fruit; receptacles mostly globose (sometimes with setiform enations); disc corollas often brown-purple to red-brown or tipped with brown-purple to red-brown (tubes much shorter than abruptly much-dilated, urceolate to campanulate throats, lobes often shaggily hairy, hairs ± moniliform) | → 6 |
5. Phyllaries mostly spreading to erect in fruit; receptacles flat, conic, domed, hemispheric, or ovoid (smooth or pitted, without setiform enations); disc corollas usually uniformly yellow to cream or sometimes purplish to reddish (tubes much shorter than to about equaling slightly dilated, funnelform to cylindric throats, lobes not shaggily hairy with moniliform hairs) | → 7 |
6. Stems not winged (receptacles usually with setiform enations; style-branch apices± attenuate) | Gaillardia |
6. Stems often winged (by decurrent leaf bases; receptacles rarely with setiform enations; style-branch apices penicillate or truncate) | Helenium |
7. Ray florets usually 3–16 (corollas withering, falling early or tardily) | → 8 |
7. Ray florets usually 1–55 (corollas marcescent) | → 9 |
8. Leaf blades sometimes pinnately lobed (lobes mostly filiform, linear, oroblong); phyllaries: outer connate or distinct, inner distinct | Hymenoxys |
8. Leaf blades pinnately lobed (lobes mostly deltate to obovate); phyllaries: all basally connate | Plateilema |
9. Pappi 0 | Baileya |
9. Pappi of 4–8 scales | → 10 |
10. Plants mostly scapiform (non-scapiform annuals in T. linearifolia); heads mostly borne singly; involucres hemispheric to rotate; rays 0 or 7–27; disc florets 20–250+ | Tetraneuris |
10. Plants not scapiform; heads usually in close corymbiform or glomerulate clusters; involucres mostly campanulate, cylindric, or obconic; rays 1–8; disc florets 5–25+ | Psilostrophe |
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