Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses - Carolina false-dandelion

CAROLINA FALSE-DANDELION

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Pyrrhopappus carolinianus (Walt. ) DC.

Shawnee County, Kansas

Annual or biennial

Height: 12-40 inches

Family: Asteraceae - Sunflower Family

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

Stems:

Ascending to erect, usually branched from base or above, glabrous below, finely pubescent above.

Leaves:

Basal and cauline, alternate, basal usually withering early; petiole present or absent; blade lanceolate to linear, 2.4 to 10 inches long, .4 to 3.6 inches wide, base tapered to clasping, margins entire, dentate to serrate, or pinnately lobed, tip acute, surfaces usually glabrous; uppermost leaves reduced.

Inflorescences:

Heads 1-5, terminal; calyculate bractlets 3-16, subulate to filiform, 2/3 to 1 inch; involucres cylindric to campanulate, 3/5 to 1 inch; phyllaries 16-21, linear.

Flowers:

Florets 50-150, all ligulate and fertile; corolla yellow, 3/5 to 4/5 inch.

Fruits:

Achenes reddish-brown, fusiform, 1/6 to 1/4 inch, terete in cross section, 5-ribbed, minutely roughened; beak 1/3 to 2/5 inch; pappus of white or grayish white barbellate bristles 1/3 to 1/2 inch, bristles subtended by a tuft of curly hairs.

Habitat:

Tallgrass prairies, flood plains, shores of ponds and lakes, roadsides, and disturbed sites

Distribution:

East 1/2 of Kansas

Origin:

Native

Uses:

The Kiowa used the roots for food.

Carolina false-dandelion flower