Gaillardia pulchella

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Gaillardia pulchella
Gaillardia in Aspen (91273).jpg
Indian blanket inflorescence
Status TNC G4.svg
Apparently Secure  (NatureServe) [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Gaillardia
Species:
G. pulchella
Binomial name
Gaillardia pulchella
Foug., 1788
Synonyms [2]
Synonymy
  • Calonnea pulcherrimaBuc'hoz
  • Gaillardia bicolorLam.
  • Gaillardia drummondii(Hook.) DC.
  • Gaillardia lobataBuckley
  • Gaillardia neomexicanaA.Nelson
  • Gaillardia pictaD.Don
  • Gaillardia scabrosaBuckley
  • Gaillardia villosaRydb.
  • Galordia alternifoliaRaeusch.

Gaillardia pulchella (firewheel, Indian blanket, Indian blanketflower, or sundance) is a North American species of short-lived perennial or annual flowering plants in the sunflower family. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

Contents

Description

The branching stem of G. pulchella is hairy and upright, growing to 60 centimetres (24 inches) tall. [9] The leaves are alternate, mostly basal, 4–8 cm (1+583+18 in) long, with edges smooth to coarsely toothed or lobed. It has a hairy stem, simple or branched near the base, where the leaves are essentially located towards the bottom of the plant.

The pinwheel, daisy-like inflorescences are 4–6.5 cm in diameter, [9] vividly colored with red, orange and yellow and is surrounded by 10 to 20 ray florets up to 2 cm; [9] the ligule has three lobes. The central disc florets of the flower head tend to be more red-violet, with the outer ray florets being yellow. In one variety, almost the entire flower is red, with only the barest tips of the petals touched with yellow. It typically blooms from May to July, [9] but does so practically year-round in some areas.

The fruit is an achene, almost pyramidal, hairy, and prolonged by a pappus 5 to 8 millimetres (316 to 516 in) in length. [10] [11]

Distribution and habitat

It is native to northern Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Sonora, Tamaulipas) and the southern and central United States from Arizona east to Florida and the Carolinas and north as far as Nebraska. [12] It is also naturalized in scattered locations in other parts of the U.S. as well as in Québec, Ontario, [9] China, South Africa, and parts of Central and South America.[ citation needed ] The plant generally lives in the sandy plains and deserts of the south of the North American continent. It is common along the roads and prefers sandy soils. It can also grow on vacant lots in urban areas, but generally below 1,000 metres (3,300 feet) above sea level. [13]

The flower has also been introduced to the Penghu (Pescadores) Islands in Taiwan, where it is the County Flower of Penghu County. It is called tiānrén jú (天人菊; " tianren daisy") in Chinese. [14]

Ecology

The plant is a larval host to the bordered patch butterfly (Chlosyne lacinia) and the painted schinia moth (Schinia volupia), which feed upon its foliage. [15]

Cultivation

G. pulchella is a hardy plant, not picky about soil, though sandy and well-drained are best. It has a high drought tolerance and does best with a dry, hot climate in full sun. Its vibrantly colored flowers can be seen carpeting fields and the sides of highways for miles in the summer to late fall. Favored by honeybees, it produces a dark reddish amber buttery tasting honey. In the garden, the flowers can be deadheaded to promote further blooming. It self-seeds freely.

Cultivars

'Torch Yellow' cultivar Gaillardia pulchella 'Torch Yellow'.jpg
'Torch Yellow' cultivar

Gaillardia pulchella (with the perennial Gaillardia aristata ) is the parent of Gaillardia × grandiflora , a hybrid, from which several cultivars have been created. One of these is 'Sundance Bicolor', a perennial double-form with the flower heads having florets of alternating red and yellow. Because of its bright colors, it is well adapted in the sun. Others are 'Goblin' and 'Tangerine'. [16] [17]

Culture

It is the state wildflower of Oklahoma.

Related Research Articles

<i>Gaillardia</i> Genus of flowering plants

Gaillardia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, native to North and South America. It was named after Maître Gaillard de Charentonneau, an 18th-century French magistrate who was an enthusiastic botanist. The common name may refer to the resemblance of the inflorescence to the brightly patterned blankets made by Native Americans, or to the ability of wild taxa to blanket the ground with colonies. Many cultivars have been bred for ornamental use.

<i>Rudbeckia hirta</i> Species of flowering plant

Rudbeckia hirta, commonly called black-eyed Susan, is a North American flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, native to Eastern and Central North America and naturalized in the Western part of the continent as well as in China. It has now been found in all 10 Canadian Provinces and all 48 of the states in the contiguous United States.

<i>Coreopsis lanceolata</i> Species of flowering plant

Coreopsis lanceolata, commonly known as lanceleaf coreopsis, lanceleaf tickseed, lance-leaved coreopsis, or sand coreopsis, is a North American species of tickseed in the family Asteraceae.

<i>Gaillardia <span style="font-style:normal;">×</span> grandiflora</i> Hybrid species of flowering plant

Gaillardia × grandiflora, known as blanket flower, is a hybrid species of flowering plant in the sunflower family Asteraceae, which is a cross of garden origin between G. aristata × G. pulchella.

<i>Ratibida columnifera</i> Species of flowering plant

Ratibida columnifera, commonly known as upright prairie coneflower, Mexican hat, and longhead prairie coneflower, is a perennial species of flowering plant in the genus Ratibida in the family Asteraceae. It is native to much of North America and inhabits prairies, plains, roadsides, and disturbed areas from southern Canada through most of the United States to northern Mexico.

<i>Geraea canescens</i> Species of flowering plant

Geraea canescens, commonly known as desert sunflower, hairy desert sunflower, or desert gold, is an annual plant in the family Asteraceae. The genus name comes from the Greek geraios, referring to the white hairs on the fruits.

<i>Erigeron philadelphicus</i> Species of flowering plant

Erigeron philadelphicus, the Philadelphia fleabane, is a species of flowering plant in the composite family (Asteraceae). Other common names include common fleabane, daisy fleabane, frost-root, marsh fleabane, poor robin's plantain, skervish, and, in the British Isles, robin's-plantain, but all of these names are shared with other species of fleabanes (Erigeron). It is native to North America and has been introduced to Eurasia.

<i>Erigeron glaucus</i> Species of flowering plant

Erigeron glaucus is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name seaside fleabane, beach aster, or seaside daisy. It is native to the West Coast of the United States.

<i>Gaillardia aristata</i> Species of flowering plant

Gaillardia aristata is a North American species of flowering plant in the sunflower family, known by the common names common blanketflower and common gaillardia. This perennial wildflower is widespread across much of North America, from Yukon east to Québec and south as far as California, Arizona, Illinois, and Connecticut, although it may be naturalized rather than native in parts of that range. It is also naturalized in scattered locations in Europe, Australia, and South America.

<i>Hulsea algida</i> Species of flowering plant

Hulsea algida is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family, known by the common name Pacific hulsea or alpine gold. It is native to the western United States.

<i>Agoseris aurantiaca</i> Species of flowering plant

Agoseris aurantiaca is a species of plant in the family Asteraceae, commonly called orange agoseris or mountain dandelion. It is widespread in western North America.

<i>Eucephalus engelmannii</i> Species of flowering plant

Eucephalus engelmannii is a North American species in the family Asteraceae known by the common name Engelmann's aster. It is native to the United States and Canada from Alberta and British Columbia to far northern California and Colorado.

<i>Bidens laevis</i> Species of flowering plant

Bidens laevis is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common names larger bur-marigold and smooth beggarticks. It is native to South America, Mexico, and the southern and eastern United States. It grows in wetlands, including estuaries and riverbanks.

<i>Crepis acuminata</i> Species of flowering plant

Crepis acuminata is a North American species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name tapertip hawksbeard. It is native to the western United States where it grows in many types of open habitat.

<i>Tetraneuris acaulis</i> Species of flowering plant

Tetraneuris acaulis is a North American species of flowering plants in the sunflower family. Common names include angelita daisy, stemless four-nerve daisy, stemless hymenoxys, butte marigold, and stemless rubberweed.

<i>Gaillardia pinnatifida</i> Species of flowering plant

Gaillardia pinnatifida, the Hopi blanketflower or red dome blanketflower, is a perennial plant in the sunflower family (Asteraceae) found in northern Mexico and in the south-central and southwestern United States.

<i>Erechtites valerianifolius</i> Species of flowering plant

Erechtites valerianifolius, common name tropical burnweed is a New World species of plants in the sunflower family. It is native to Mexico, Central America, South America, and the West Indies. It is also naturalized as a weed in much of the tropical Old World.

Gaillardia amblyodon, the maroon blanketflower, is a species of flowering plant in the aster family. It has been found only in the state of Texas in the south-central United States.

Gaillardia parryi, or Parry's blanketflower, is a North American species of flowering plant in the sunflower family. It is native to the southwestern United States. Some of the populations are inside Grand Canyon National Park, others in Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument.

<i>Hieracium gronovii</i> Species of flowering plant

Hieracium gronovii, commonly known as queendevil, hairy hawkweed, beaked hawkweed, and Gronovius' hawkweed, is a North American plant species in the tribe Cichorieae within the family Asteraceae. It is common and widespread across much of the continent from Ontario south as far as Florida, the Dominican Republic, and Panamá. The plant can be found in rocky, dry, open woods and in fields.

References

  1. NatureServe (4 August 2023). "Gaillardia pulchella". NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data accessed through NatureServe Explorer. Arlington, Virginia: NatureServe. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  2. The Plant List, Gaillardia pulchella Foug.
  3. Turner, B. L. 2013. The comps of Mexico. A systematic account of the family Asteraceae (chapter 11: tribe Helenieae). Phytologia Memoirs 16: 1–100
  4. Jørgensen, P. M., M. H. Nee & S. G. Beck. (eds.) 2014. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares de Bolivia, Monographs in systematic botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 127(1–2): i–viii, 1–1744
  5. Nelson, C. H. 2008. Catálogo de las Plantas Vasculares de Honduras 1–1576. Secretaria de Recursos Naturales y Ambiente, Tegucigalpa
  6. Gibbs Russell, G. E., W. G. M. Welman, E. Retief, K. L. Immelman, G. Germishuizen, B. J. Pienaar, M. Van Wyk & A. Nicholas. 1987. List of species of southern African plants. Memoirs of the Botanical Survey of South Africa 2(1–2): 1–152(pt. 1), 1–270(pt. 2).
  7. Flora of China, Gaillardia pulchella Fougeroux, 1788. 天人菊 tian ren ju
  8. United States Department of Agriculture Plant Profile: Gaillardia pulchella
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Spellenberg, Richard (2001) [1979]. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers: Western Region (rev ed.). Knopf. pp. 374–375. ISBN   978-0-375-40233-3.
  10. Flora of North America: Gaillardia pulchella Fougeroux, 1788. Firewheel, Indian blanket
  11. "Gaillardia pulchella". Germplasm Resources Information Network . Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture . Retrieved 24 December 2017.
  12. Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map
  13. MacMahon JA (1997) Deserts , National Audubon Society Nature Guides, AA Knopf Inc. ISBN   0-394-73139-5
  14. "Penghu County Flower".
  15. The Xerces Society (2016), Gardening for Butterflies: How You Can Attract and Protect Beautiful, Beneficial Insects, Timber Press.
  16. Colorado State University: Gaillardia pulchella 'Sundance Bicolor'
  17. Seeds and More: Gaillardia 'Sundance Bicolor'