Lessingia arachnoidea
Crystal Springs lessingia
erect, tan, glabrous or villous.
basal withering by flowering;
cauline margins entire, faces eglandular, abaxial glabrous or villous.
obconic, 4–8 mm.
(3–)8–18;
corollas pink to lavender (color more intense in tubes);
style-branch appendages truncate-penicillate, 0.1–0.3 mm.
purple-tipped, faces arachnose, sometimes gland-dotted;
inner scarious.
borne singly, at ends of branchlets.
tan, usually shorter than cypselae, sometimes forming coronas, rarely equaling or longer than cypselae (Sonoma County).
= 10.
Lessingia arachnoidea
Of conservation concern.
Lessingia arachnoidea is known from near Crystal Springs Reservoir in San Mateo County and near Camp Meeker in Sonoma County. Previous circumscriptions of L. arachnoidea (pappi shorter than cypselae, forming coronas) have been expanded to include plants (from Sonoma County) with pappi equaling or longer than cypselae. Alternatively, the plants with longer pappi could have been accommodated in L. ramulosa (as a glandless form); the absence of basal leaves at flowering and the presence of arachnoid indument on the phyllaries suggest a closer affinity to L. arachnoidea.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
CA
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
