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Gutierrezia alamani

Interesting Facts

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Description

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Family Compositae

The largest family of flowering plants , the Compositae (Asteraceae), comprising about 1,100 genera and more than 20,000 species and characterized by many small flowers arranged in a head looking like a single flower and subtended by an involucre of bracts. A head may consist of both ray flowers and disk flowers, as in the sunflower, of disk flowers only, as in the burdock, or of ray flowers only, as in the dandelion.

Genus Gutierrezia

Annuals , perennials , or subshrubs , 10-150(-200) cm (taprooted). Stems erect to ascending , usually branched, glabrous or papillate-scabrous to minutely hispidulous or scabro-hirtellous. Leaves basal (persistent or absent at flowering) and cauline; alternate; sessile or petiolate (decurrent) ; blades (1-5-nerved) linear to lanceolate or spatulate , margins entire (sometimes scabroso-ciliate), faces glabrous or minutely hairy , gland-dotted (sometimes obscurely), resinous . Heads radiate , borne singly or (3-6) in clusters or glomerules . Involucres cylindric to campanulate , (2-11.5 ×) 0.8-7.5 mm. Phyllaries 4-40 in 2-4 series (stramineous ), 1- or 3-nerved, (sometimes strongly convex or keeled ), ovate to lanceolate, unequal, bases white-indurate, margins narrowly scarious , abaxial faces glabrous or sparsely hispidulous or hirtellous. Receptacles flat to conic, pitted (hairy, hairs 1-seriate, swollen, apically hooked ), epaleate. Ray florets 1-30, pistillate , fertile ; corollas yellow or white (laminae coiling ). Disc florets 1-150, bisexual , fertile, sometimes functionally staminate ; corollas yellow or white, tubes shorter than funnelform throats , lobes 5, erect, short-deltate; style-branch appendages linear-lanceolate. Cypselae (light tan to purplish black) clavate or cylindric, not compressed , 5-8-nerved, hairy (glabrous in G. wrightii; hairs white, usually arising primarily from between ribs , appearing to occur in longitudinal lines , usually obscuring faces, apices acute or blunt with terminal cells slightly divergent, or clavate to bulbous) ; pappi persistent or readily falling, coroniform or of 5-10 whitish, irregular, sometimes ± connate , often erose-margined, scales in 1-2 series (usually longer in discs than rays). x = 4.

Species 28: w North America, w South America.

Amphiachyris sometimes has been placed within Gutierrezia; it was treated as distinct by M. A. Lane (1982). The monotypic genus Thurovia from southeast Texas was included in Gutierrezia by Lane; recent molecular data support its status as a separate genus. Evidence from Y. Suh and B . B. Simpson (1990) suggested that Amphiachyris and Thurovia form the sister group to Gutierrezia. The taxonomic history of Gutierrezia also has been intertwined with species of Xanthocephalum, a genus superficially similar to Gutierrezia but more closely related to Grindelia and Isocoma.

Gutierrezia is recognized by its taprooted habit, gland-dotted leaves, small heads , receptacles with fimbriate pit borders , funnelform disc corollas, clavate-hairy cypselae, pappi coroniform or of scales, and base chromosome number of x = 4. Polyploidy is common but of little taxonomic significance; polyploids of different levels tend to be scattered through the range of a species, and populations often comprise mixtures of individuals of different euploid levels (M. A. Lane 1985).[1]

Taxonomy

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Similar Species

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Members of the genus Gutierrezia

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 12 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

G. arizonica (Arizona Snakeweed) · G. californica (Bay Matchweed) · G. microcephala (Small-Head Snakeweed) · G. petradoria (Goldenrod Snakeweed) · G. sarothrae (Broom Snakeweed) · G. serotina (Late Snakeweed) · G. sphaerocephala (Annual Snakeweed) · G. texana (Kindling Weed) · G. texana (DC.) Torr. and Gray var. glutinosa (S.Schauer) M.A.Lane (Sticky Snakeweed) · G. texana var. glutinosa (Sticky Snakeweed) · G. texana var. texana (Texas Snakeweed) · G. wrightii (Wright's Snakeweed)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Guy L. Nesom "Gutierrezia". in Flora of North America Vol. 20 Page 8, 9, 13, 87, 88, 89, 94, 95, 437. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
Last Revised: 2012-07-28