Al Schneider's Rocky Mountains Plant Descriptions

Arizona Mule-ears
Wyethia arizonica
Aster family (Asteraceae)

Arizona Mule-ears can form very extensive colonies of thousands of plants on open, sunny hillsides and or scattered in Aspen and Ponderosa Pine woods. This species is very similar to Wyethia amplexicaulis and Wyethia × magna.   W. amplexicaulis hybridized eons ago with W. arizonica to produce Wyethia × magna which is a stable hybrid having characteristics of both parents. Wyethia arizonica might also be confused with Arrowleaf Balsamroot ( Balsamorhiza sagittata), but the leaves of the two are quite different: Mulesears' leaves are 2-4" wide and up to a 16" long while Arrowleaf leaves are 6-9" long and 4-6" wide, arrowhead shaped. Mulesears usually blooms several weeks after Arrowleaf.

The was named by famed botanist, Thomas Nuttall, for his friend, Nathaniel Wyeth, a 19th century eastern merchant who mounted several Western commercial and exploratory expeditions.


© Max Licher, downloaded from SEINet

Description

, 8-36" tall, with yellow flowerheads and very long to leaves (thus the common name "Mule's Ears"). of are often nearly as long as the leaf , but those of the upper stem leaves can be quite short. Stems and leaves distinctly hairy. Leaves have margins. Flowers are typically solitary on each stem, about 4" in diameter, consisting of large bright yellow surrounding a center of yellow flowers. an .

Field Marks

Large yellow around yellow disk, large elliptical leaves; long , hairy stems and leaves.

© Al Schneider

An entire leaf has smooth edges. Not toothed or lobed.

oblanceolate -- top wider than bottom

meadow -- Large grass and wildflower filled area with few, if any, trees.

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.

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

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

elliptic -- Oval, with no point or a very short point.

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

petiole -- the stalk of a leaf.

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

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

A perennial plant lives and blooms for many years.