Al Schneider's Rocky Mountains Plant Descriptions

Pale Agoseris
Agoseris glauca
Aster family (Asteraceae)

Pale Agoseris is very similar to Orange Agoseris (A. aurantiaca), but the yellow flower and overall slightly larger plant size are distinctive. Bright yellow flowers remain open many days, withering after time exposing the long, tightly packed , and eventually seeds mature and are topped by a myriad of feathered fluff (the hairs) that will carry the seeds on the winds. Several other yellow-flowered species of Agoseris are distinguished from each other largely by features of the . The pesky Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) that brightens our lawns is similar, but has minute pegs all over the top of the and has curved back beneath the . "Agoseris" is Greek for "goat Chicory."


© Walter Siegmund, Susan McDougall, Trees Live
Here.

Description

, with milky sap, 4-24" tall, from simple or branched (woody base of non-woody ). Narrow, , or , all in upright cluster. Leaves long- with smooth-edged margins or with scattered or small , and frequently red/purple portions of stem, or mid-vein. Each stem topped by yellow flower consisting of only . Outer tips of squared with 5 small . and other parts of plant commonly hairy. are smooth with long, slender beaks and of clustered white hairs.

Field Marks

Single yellow dandelion-like flower.

© Al Schneider

ray flowers -- The outer petals of a sunflower or daisy are ray flowers.

A perennial plant lives and blooms for many years.

phyllaries -- Leaflike bracts covering the flowers before opening and remaining under the flower after it opens. Also called "bracts". Only used with the sunflower family (Asteraceae).

lobe -- A rounded parts of a leaf (or other organ).

A herb is a plant whose stems die back to the ground in the winter.

ray flowers -- The outer petals of a sunflower or daisy are ray flowers.

Bracts are modified leaves associated with a flower.

Involucre is the name given to the circle or spiral collection of bracts around a flower-cluster.

pappus -- Small scales, bristles or hairs at the top of the seed in Asteraceae. For example, dandelion parachutes. Plural: pappi.

achene -- a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. For example, a rose hip holds a few achenes.

Like the teeth on a saw, leaves and other surfaces can have toothed edges.

fruit -- any seed-bearing structure in flowering plants. It is formed from the ovary after flowering.

stalk -- The supporting structure of an organ. Examples of stalks are stem, peduncle, petiole, ...

spatulate -- spoon-shaped.

The receptacle is the thickened part of a stem (pedicel) from which the flower organs grow.

basal leaves -- a leaf that grows lowest on the stem of a plant.

caudex -- The woody stem base of some herbaceous perennials.

blade -- Just the flat part of a leaf. Not the stem.

linear -- Long and very narrow like a blade of grass.