Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

BROOMWEED

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Amphiachyris dracunculoides (DC. ) Nutt.

[=Gutierrezia dracunculoides DC.]

Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas

Annual

Height: 1-3 feet

Family: Asteraceae - Sunflower Family

Flowering Period: August, September,October

Stems:

Solitary, 1/5 to 4/5 in diameter, upper 1/2 of stem bushy-branched.

Leaves:

Alternate, numerous, linear or linear-lanceolate, .2 to 2.4 inches long, less than 1/4 inch wide, margins entire, glandular-dotted or somewhat sticky.

Inflorescences:

Corymbs of numerous heads, terminal.

Flowers:

Involucre 1/8 to 1/5 inch tall; involucral bracts overlapping, shiny; ray florets 6-10, ligule 1/6 to 1/4 inch long, yellow; disk florets 10-25, corolla yellow, staminate only, infertile.

Fruits:

Ray achenes less than 1/12 inch long, purplish-black with 7-9 narrow greenish stripes, finely pubescent, pappus absent or a minute crown; disk achenes sterile, pappus of 5 or more awns united basally.

Habitat:

Open upland sites, disturbed or overgrazed areas and roadsides; dry, calcareous, clay or sandy soils.

Distribution:

Occurs primarily in southern and central Kansas.

Toxicity:

Known to cause eye inflamation in humans and livestock.

Uses:

Pioneers tied bundles of dried plants to sticks for use as brooms. This weedy plant spreads rapidly in overgrazed areas, because it is unpalatable to livestock and withstands drought well.

Comments:

Large populations are sometimes found in overgrazed pastures.

Broomweed