Kingdom Plantae Family Asteraceae Rank Species | Order Asterales Genus Syntrichopappus | |
Syntrichopappus fremontii (Fremont's-gold, yellowray Fremont's-gold false woolly daisy, or Fremont xerasid), is a small annual plant in the Sunflower family (Asteraceae). It has yellow flower heads and grows in the Mojave Desert, to Utah and northwestern Arizona.
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Habitat and range
Syntrichopappus fremontii grows at an altitude of 600–2500 m, in open sandy or gravelly areas, often in association with Creosote bush scrub or Joshua tree woodland vegetation. It is distributed throughout the Mojave Desert, the southwest Sonoran Desert, and parts of northwestern Arizona, southwestern Utah and northern Baja California.
Growth pattern
Syntrichopappus fremontii grows from 1 to 11 centimetres (0.39 to 4.33 in) tall and is branched. It somewhat resembles Eriophyllum wallacei, but grows on higher ground and has only about half the number of ray flowers.
Leaves and stems
Leaves are spoon-shaped or wedge-shaped, 5 to 20 centimetres (2.0 to 7.9 in) long, and may be 3-lobed at the tip.
Inflorescence and fruit
It flowers from March or April to June. The inflorescence has 5 hardened phyllaries surrounding a head of 5 yellow ray flowers with several yellow disk flowers. The ray flowers have 3 strong lobes, or teeth.
The fruit is an achene with a pappus of 30–40 white bristles about 2 mm long, fused at their base.