Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

PAPER FLOWER

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Psilostrophe villosa Rydb.

Barber County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 4-24 inches

Family: Asteraceae - Sunflower Family

Flowering Period: May, June, July, August, September

Stems:

Erect, several to many, clustered, branched, white-woolly.

Leaves:

Alternate, simple, short-stalked below, sessile above, oblanceolate to spatulate, 1/2 to 4 inches long, to 3/4 inch wide, woolly; margins entire or lobed; upper leaves reduced.

Inflorescences:

Small, congested clusters of heads, terminal; heads about 1/2 inch wide; bracts in 2 series, outer series 4-12, linear-lanceolate, densely woolly, inner series 1-7, smaller, rough.

Flowers:

Ray florets 3-4, 1/5 inch long, golden yellow, tips with 3-4 pronounced lobes; disk florets 5-12, corollas 5-toothed, golden yellow.

Fruits:

Achenes, linear, glabrous, tipped with 4-6 linear-lanceolate scales, enclosing small seed.

Habitat:

Dry, open disturbed areas, sandy sites, and roadsides.

Distribution:

Southwest 1/4 of Kansas.

Comments:

As the flowers mature, the ray florets turn whitish and papery, giving the plant its common name. Paper flower is well adapted to dry conditions.

Paper flower inflorescence