Atrichoseris
Atrichoseris platyphylla
at Lake Mead
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Subfamily: Cichorioideae
Tribe: Cichorieae
Subtribe: Microseridinae
Genus: Atrichoseris
A.Gray
Species:
A. platyphylla
Binomial name
Atrichoseris platyphylla
Synonyms[1]
  • Anathrix A.Gray
  • Malacothrix unranked Anathrix A. Gray
  • Malacothrix platyphylla A.Gray

Atrichoseris is a genus of plants in the family Asteraceae.[2][1] It contains only one known species, Atrichoseris platyphylla, known by the common names tobacco weed, parachute plant, and gravel ghost.[3]

A. platyphylla is native to the deserts of the southwestern United States (southern California, Arizona, Nevada and the southwestern corner of Utah) and northwestern Mexico (Sonora, Baja California).[4][5][6]

The plant produces a low basal rosette of rounded leaves patterned with gray-green and purple patches at ground level. It sends up a weedy-looking thin branching stem up to 70 centimetres (28 inches) tall, topped with a number of attractive, fragrant white or pink-tinged flowers, about 2.5–5 cm (1–2 in) wide,[4] the layered ray florets rectangular and toothed.[5][6] The flowers bloom between February and May.[4] The hairless fruit has the shape of a five-sided club.[4]

The genus name, Atrichoseris, means 'chicory plant without hairs', referring to the fruit, and the specific epithet, platyphylla, means 'flat-leaved'.[4]

Gravel ghosts in Death Valley National Park, March 2005.

References

  1. 1 2 Tropicos, Atrichoseris A. Gray
  2. ↑ Gray, Asa. 1884. Synoptical Flora of North America 1(2): 410
  3. ↑ Flora of North America, Atrichoseris A. Gray in A. Gray et al., Syn. Fl. N. Amer. 1(2): 410. 1884.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Spellenberg, Richard (2001) [1979]. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers: Western Region (rev ed.). Knopf. p. 357. ISBN 978-0-375-40233-3.
  5. 1 2 Jepson Manual Treatment
  6. 1 2 Photo gallery


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