Saussurea americana

• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Description

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 Saussurea

Perennials , 5-120+ cm; herbage tomentose or glabrescent , not spiny . Stems erect or ascending , simple or branched. Leaves basal or cauline (sometimes cauline only), sessile or petiolate ; blade margins entire or dentate to pinnately lobed , faces glabrous to densely tomentose, glandular or eglandular . Heads discoid , borne singly or in corymbiform arrays. Involucres ovoid to campanulate or ± turbinate . Phyllaries many in 3-5(-10+) series, subequal to strongly unequal, appressed or not, ovate to lanceolate, margins entire, toothed , or lobed, apices obtuse or acute, appendaged or not, not spine-tipped. Receptacles flat or convex , epaleate, smooth , usually subulate-scaly, sometimes bristly or naked. Florets 10-20; corollas white to blue or purple, tubes slender, abruptly expanded to throats , lobes linear ; anther bases short-tailed, apical appendages linear, acute; style branches: fused portions with minutely hairy subterminal nodes, distinct portions oblong to linear, short-papillate. Cypselae oblong, ± angled , cylindric or 4-5-angled, ribs (when present) smooth or roughened, apices entire, glabrous or minutely glandular, attachment scars basal; pappi usually of 2 series, outer of readily falling, short bristles , inner persistent or falling as unit , of basally connate , usually longer , plumose bristles. x = 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19?.

Species 300-400: North America, Eurasia , 1 in Australia.

Saussurea is a notoriously difficult, largely Asiatic genus with species boundaries often indistinct.[1]

Physical Description

Habitat

Moist canyons , meadows, streamsides in montane forests ; 1000-2600 m

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 2,174 meters (0 to 7,133 feet).[2]

Biology

Reproduction

Duration: Perennial

Taxonomy

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: 15-Mar-2000

Similar Species

Members of the genus Saussurea

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 13 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

S. alpina (Alpine Sawwort) · S. amara (Saussurea) · S. americana (American Saw-Wort) · S. angustifolia (Narrowleaf Saw-Wort) · S. angustifolia var. angustifolia (Narrowleaf Saw-Wort) · S. angustifolia var. yukonensis (Narrowleaf Saw-Wort) · S. angustifolia yukonensis (Narrowleaf Saw-Wort) · S. densa (Clustered Sawwort) · S. nuda (Nutty Saw-Wort) · S. tilesii (Tiles' Saussurea) · S. tschuktschorum (Tschuktsch's Saussurea) · S. viscida (Sticky Saw-Wort) · S. weberi (Weber's Saw-Wort)

More Info

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Further Reading

• A manual of the flora of northern Idaho /Carl Epling and Joe Ewan. 1 1941 1941. url p. 27.
• Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. 46 1919 New York: Torrey Botanical Club, 1870-1996 url p. 320, p. 499.
• Catalogue of scientific papers (1800-1900) Comp. by the Royal society of London. Cambridge, C. J. Clay and sons, 1867-1902; url p. 212.
• Catalogue of scientific papers, 1800-1900. Compiled by the Royal Society of London. London, C.J. Clay and Sons, 1867-1902 [etc.] Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1914-25. url p. 212.
• Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 3 1892-1896 Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1890- url p. 236, p. 283, p. 608, p. 611, p. 62.
• Elementary flora of the Northwest, Cincinnati [etc.]American Book Company[c1914] url .
• Flora of the northwest coast, including the area west of the summit of the Cascade Mountains, from the forty-ninth parallel south to the Calapooia Mountains on the south border of Lane County, Oregon. Lancaster, Pa., Press of the New Era Printing Company, 1915. url .
• Flora of the northwest coast: including the area west of the summit of the Cascade Mountains, from the forty-ninth parallel south to the Calapooia Mountains on the south border of Lane County, Oregon / by Charles V. Piper and R. Kent Beattie. Lancaster, Pa.: Press of the New era printing company, 1915. url p. 396.
• Flora of the state of Washington / by Charles V. Piper. Washington: G.P.O., 1906 url p. 57, p. 611.
• Flora of the state of Washington. By Charles V. Piper. Washington, Govt. Print. Off., 1906. url p. 611.
• Key to the Rocky Mountain flora. Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and parts of Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, and British Columbia. New York, [c1919] url .
• Mount Rainier: a record of exploration / edited by Edmond S. Meany. New York: Macmillan, 1916. url p. 259.
• Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington. Washington, etc.: Entomological Society of Washington url p. 614, p. 790, p. 793.
• Sensitive, threatened, and endangered vascular plants of Montana / Peter Lesica, J. Stephen Shelly. Helena, Mont.: Montana Natural Heritage Program, Montana State Library, 1991. url p. 80.
• Syllogeus. Ottawa, National Museum of Natural Sciences, 1972-1995. url p. 118, p. 34, p. 35, p. 40, p. 43, p. 46, p. 47, p. 61, p. 64, p. 94.
• The Canadian field-naturalist. Ottawa, Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club. url p. 520.
• The Mountaineer. Seattle, The Mountaineers, 1907-1921. url p. 116.
• The Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science. Des moines, Iowa: The Academy, [1889-1987] url p. 449.
• Lipschitz, S. J. 1979. Rod Saussurea DC. (Asteraceae). Leningrad.

Notes

Contributors

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 15, 2012.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal February 02, 2008:

• Berkeley Natural History Museums, University and Jepson Herbaria DiGIR provider
• Canadian Museum of Nature, Canadian Museum of Nature Herbarium
• Oregon State University, Vascular Plant Collection
• USDA PLANTS, USDA PLANTS Database
• University of Alaska Museum of the North, University of Alaska Museum of the North Herbarium
• University of Washington Burke Museum, Vascular Plant Collection - University of Washington Herbarium

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2657655
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-36078
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 36078
• U.S.D.A. Plant Symbol: SAAM3
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 58138

Footnotes

1. David J. Keil "Saussurea". in Flora of North America Vol. 19, 20 and 21 Page 58, 83, 165. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
2. Mean = 1,216.860 meters (3,992.323 feet), Standard Deviation = 493.180 based on 66 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.