Senecio mohavensis

Senecio mohavensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Tribe: Senecioneae
Genus: Senecio
Species: S. mohavensis
Binomial name
Senecio mohavensis

Senecio mohavensis, known by the common name Mojave ragwort, is a species of flowering plant in the aster family.[1][2][3]

Distribution

The annual herb is native to the Mojave Desert in California, northwestern Arizona, and southwestern Nevada (southwestern United States); and to the Sonoran Desert in California and Arizona, and Baja California and Sonora (northwestern Mexico).[4]

It grows in sandy and rocky habitats, often in Creosote bush scrub.

Description

Senecio mohavensis produces a single branching erect stem up to 30 or 40 centimeters in maximum height from a twisted taproot. It is mostly hairless and green to purple in color.

The leaves have lobed or toothed blades a few centimeters long, the lower on short petioles and those higher on the plant with wide bases that clasp the stem.

The inflorescence is a spreading array of several flower heads filled with yellow disc florets, typically numbering between 15 and 30.[5] Some heads have tiny ray florets that may be tucked out of view within the phyllaries. The phyllaries are typically green, hairless, mostly fused, and measure about a third of an inch.[5] The bloom period is March to May, and the plant's toxicity is Minor Dermatitis. [6]

References

  1. ↑ "Senecio mohavensis". Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Database. USDA. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  2. ↑ Flora of North America: Senecio mohavensis
  3. ↑ "Mojave Ragwort (Senecio mohavensis)". iNaturalist.org. Retrieved 2018-06-15.
  4. ↑ SEINet, Arizona−New Mexico Chapter: Senecio mohavensis (Mojave ragwort)
  5. 1 2 Southwest, The American. "Mojave Ragwort, Senecio Mohavensis". www.americansouthwest.net. Retrieved 2018-06-15.
  6. ↑ "Calflora: Senecio mohavensis". www.calflora.org. Retrieved 2018-06-15.


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