Al Schneider's Rocky Mountains Plant Descriptions

Hoary Pincushion
Chaenactis douglasii
Aster family (Asteraceae)

For Chaenactis douglasii variety alpina

This unusual and lovely plant is found in loose colonies hugging the ground in tight mounds. Leaves are fern-like, hairy, and attractive. "Chaenactis" is from the Greek "open or gaping rays," but since Chaenactis flowerheads have no the name perhaps refers to what appear to be in some other species.


©2009 Matt Lavin

Description

1-4" tall in slightly mounded, 5-12" diameter clusters. Leaves divided, obviously gray hairy. White flower heads usually solitary on very short stems to 2" long. often suffused with purple. Dried flowers . an .

Field Marks

White-pink flat-topped rayless flowerheads and fern-like leaves.

For Chaenactis douglasii variety douglasii

The leaves of Hoary Pincushion are crinkly and highly dissected, resembling those of a carrot except for a covering of cobwebby hairs that gives the plant a dusty appearance. The height, habitat, and color of Hoary Pincushion are very similar to those of Hymenopappus filifolius. Flowers of Hoary Pincushion are usually white; flowers of Hymenopappus filifolius are yellow.

"Douglasii" honors David Douglas (of Douglas Fir fame), acclaimed 19th century Scottish botanist and explorer who discovered this plant in the late 1820s and had it named for him by William Jackson Hooker in his 1833 books on the flora of north America. "Chaenactis" is from the Greek "open or gaping ," but since Chaenactis flowers have no the name perhaps refers to what appear to be in some species.

Description

or , typically 10-20" tall. Stems single with gray woolly or cobwebby hairs. , fernlike, 1-3 times divided into narrow segments, reduced in size as they ascend stem. segments narrow, thick and curled. White, at times pink, flowerheads in flat-topped clusters comprised of numerous flowers in cups with . and often hairy. hairy club-shaped .

Field Marks

White-pink flat-topped rayless flowerheads and fern-like leaves.

© Al Schneider

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

exserted -- projected beyond. (Exserted stamens project beyond the corolla tube.)

A perennial plant lives and blooms for many years.

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

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.

persistent -- When the leaves of a plant fail to fall off in the fall they are persistent. Flowers that stay around after fruiting would be persistent.

Glands are plant structures that secrete liquids, salts or other substances. Glands often appear as hairs with a drop of liquid at the end.

The anther is a pad at the end of the stamen that holds the pollen.

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

pinnate -- A compound leaf with two rows of leaflets.

leaflets -- Each little leaf-like thing in a compound leaf is a leaflet.

biennial -- a plant which lives for two years, producing a basal rosette of leaves the first year and a full plant, flower, and seed the second year followed by the death of the entire plant at the end of the second year.

disc flowers are those in the center of a sunflower or daisy. Not a ray flower.

genus -- A subdivision of a botanical Family in which all members have a significant number of similar characteristics.

leaves alternate along the main stem and are attached singly.

alpine -- above the tree line. Thin soil, rocks, short growing season, frost, winter snow.