Flora of North America species comparison

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Helianthella microcephala

purpledisk helianthella, small head sunflower, small-head dwarf-sunflower
Habit Plants 20–60(–80) cm.
Cauline leaves

largest proximal to mid stems;

blades usually 3-nerved, linear-spatulate to oblong-spatulate, 6–25 cm, faces hispidulous to scabrellous or glabrate.
Involucres

turbinate, campanulate, or hemispheric, (8–)12–15(–20+) mm diam.
Ray florets

(5–)13;

laminae 8–14 mm (usually little surpassing discs).
Disc corollas

purple to brown.
Phyllaries

deltate-ovate to oblong (unequal to subequal, margins ciliolate, apices obtuse).
Heads

(3–)5–15+ in corymbiform arrays, erect.
Cypselae

strongly compressed, ± oblanceolate (scarcely winged, faces densely strigose);

pappi of 2 ± subulate scales plus 0–4 shorter scales.
Paleae

chartaceous, relatively firm.
2n

= 30.

Helianthella microcephala
Phenology Flowering (Jul–)Aug–Sep.
Habitat Gulches, ravines, hillsides, semidesert sites, pinyon-juniper associations
Elevation 1700–2800 m (5600–9200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CO; NM; UT
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Helianthella microcephala grows in the Colorado Plateau province.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 21, p. 115.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Heliantheae > subtribe Ecliptinae > Helianthella
Sibling taxa
H. californica, H. castanea, H. parryi, H. quinquenervis, H. uniflora
Synonyms Encelia microcephala
Name authority (A. Gray) A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 19: 10. (1883)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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