Bachelor's button

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Bachelor's button

Bachelor's button

Bachelor's button

Bachelor's button

Morphology

Stem

Erect or ascending, usually solitary, slender, green, densely white-woolly when young, openly branched at or above mid-point.

Leaves

Alternate; principal stem leaves entire, linear or linear-lanceolate, 1.6 to 4.6 inches long, 1/12 to 2/5 inch wide, grayish-woolly below; tip sharp-pointed; lower leaves sessile to short-stalked, sometimes toothed or lobed; upper leaves reduced, mostly sessile.

Inflorescence

Solitary heads, terminal on branch tips; many-flowered; involucre urn-shaped, 1/2 to 3/5 inch tall; involucral bracts ovate or lanceolate, overlapping, often purple-tinged; margins irregularly-cleft.

Flower

Head 3/5 to 1 inch wide; florets 25-35, corollas mostly blue, sometimes purple, pink, or white; corollas of central disc florets 2/5 to 3/5 inch long, bisexual; corollas of marginal florets enlarged, 4/5 to 1 inch long, sterile; lobes lanceolate.

Fruit

Achene, egg-shaped or oblong, 1/8 to 1/5 inch long, flattened, yellowish-brown to grayish-brown or nearly black, stiff-hairy, bristles many, stiff, unequal, 1/12 to 1/6 inch long, yellowish-brown to brown, enclosing small seed.

Ecology

Habitat

Roadsides, fields, waste places, disturbed sites; occurs sporadically and does not persist long.

Distribution

Infrequently throughout Kansas

Practical Information

Uses

Native Americans applied bruised leaves to sores. Herbals state that the flowers and seeds were boiled with wine and taken to treat spider bites and scorpion stings. Superstition held that bachelor's button would cause bread to mold when brought into the house. (Stevens)

Additional Notes