Golden selenia

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Golden selenia

Golden selenia flowers and leaves

Golden selenia

Golden selenia

Golden selenium flowers

Golden selenia

Morphology

Stem

Erect or ascending, simple or branched from base, glabrous.

Leaves

Alternate, basal, oblanceolate to broadly elliptic in outline, .8 to 3.6 inches long, deeply pinnately-divided, glabrous; segments 5-29, narrow, linear or narrowly oblong; margins entire or with small basal tooth; basal leaves short-stalked, stem leaves sessile.

Inflorescence

Raceme, to 4 inches long, terminal; flowers subtended by leaf-like bracts.

Flower

About 1/3 inch broad; stalk ascending, 2/5 to 4/5 inch long, deeply-cut leaf-like bract at base; sepals 4, 1/6 to 1/4 inch long, erect, glabrous, tips pointed; petals 4, oblanceolate to spatulate, 1/3 to 2/5 inch long, yellow, tips notched; stamens 6, subtended by horseshoe-shaped glands at bases.

Fruit

Pod, erect or ascending, thin, flat, oblong or elliptic, 2/5 to 1 inch long, 1/4 to 2/5 inch wide, pointed at both ends; margins entire to somewhat wavy; style stout, 1/5 inch long; seeds 6-12 per fruit, nearly round, flattened, orange, in 2 rows in each compartment.

Ecology

Habitat

Rocky prairies, waste ground, sandy fields, bluffs, sandstone or chert glades; acidic soils.

Distribution

Southeast 1/4 of Kansas.