Kingdom Plantae Tribe Heliantheae Scientific name Enceliopsis nudicaulis Rank Species | Order Asterales Genus Enceliopsis Higher classification Enceliopsis | |
 | ||
Similar Enceliopsis, Astragalus phoenix, Mentzelia leucophylla, Daisy family, Grindelia fraxinipratensis | ||
Enceliopsis nudicaulis is a North American species of flowering plants in the daisy family known by the common name nakedstem sunray, or naked-stemmed daisy.
Contents
Distribution
Enceliopsis nudicaulis is native to the western United States: Idaho, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and California including the Inyo Mountains-White Mountains and sky islands the Mojave Desert in California. It grows in desert, plateau, and montane habitats.
Description
Enceliopsis nudicaulis is a perennial herb growing up to 40 centimeters (16 inches) tall from a woody caudex fringed with gray-green hairy leaves. The leaves are oval and up to 6 centimeters (2.4 inches) long and wide.
The inflorescence is a solitary flower head atop a tall, erect peduncle. The flower head has a base made up of three layers of densely woolly, pointed phyllaries. It has a fringe of approximately 21 yellow ray florets each 2 to 4 centimeters (0.8-1.6 inches) long. The fruit is a hairy achene about one centimeter (0.4 inches) in length.
Varieties
There are two recognized varieties of this species: