Dahlia is a genus of bushy, tuberous, herbaceous perennial plants native to Mexico and Central America. A member of the Compositae family of dicotyledonous plants, its garden relatives thus include the sunflower, daisy, chrysanthemum, and zinnia. There are 42 species of dahlia, with hybrids commonly grown as garden plants. Flower forms are variable, with one head per stem; these can be as small as 5 cm (2 in) diameter or up to 30 cm (1 ft). This great variety results from dahlias being octoploids—that is, they have eight sets of homologous chromosomes, whereas most plants have only two. In addition, dahlias also contain many transposons—genetic pieces that move from place to place upon an allele—which contributes to their manifesting such great diversity.
Senecio is a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family (Asteraceae) that includes ragworts and groundsels.
Tagetes is a genus of annual or perennial, mostly herbaceous plants in the family Asteraceae. They are among several groups of plants known in English as marigolds. The genus Tagetes was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.
Ragweeds are flowering plants in the genus Ambrosia in the aster family, Asteraceae. They are distributed in the tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas, especially North America, where the origin and center of diversity of the genus are in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. Several species have been introduced to the Old World and some have naturalized and have become invasive species. Ragweed species are expected to continue spreading across Europe in the near future in response to ongoing climate change.
Harold Ernest Robinson was an American botanist and an entomologist.
Liatris, commonly known as gayfeather, is a genus of flowering plants in the tribe Eupatorieae within the family Asteraceae native to North America. Its most common name is blazing star. Some species are used as ornamental plants, sometimes in flower bouquets.
Vernonia is a genus of about 350 species of forbs and shrubs in the family Asteraceae. Some species are known as ironweed. Some species are edible and of economic value. They are known for having intense purple flowers. The genus is named for the English botanist William Vernon. There have been numerous distinct subgenera and subsections named in this genus, and some botanists have divided the genus into several distinct genera. For instance, the Flora of North America recognizes only about twenty species in Vernoniasensu stricto, seventeen of which are in North America north of Mexico, with the others being found in South America.
Baccharis is a genus of perennials and shrubs in the aster family (Asteraceae). They are commonly known as baccharises but sometimes referred to as "brooms", because many members have small thin leaves resembling the true brooms. They are not at all related to these however, but belong to an entirely different lineage of eudicots. B. halimifolia is commonly known as "groundsel bush", however true groundsels are found in the genus Senecio.
Purshia is a small genus of 5-8 species of flowering plants in the family Rosaceae, native to western North America, where they grow in dry climates from southeast British Columbia in Canada south throughout the western United States to northern Mexico. The classification of Purshia within the Rosaceae has been unclear. The genus was originally placed in the subfamily Rosoideae, but is now placed in subfamily Dryadoideae.
Vauquelinia, commonly known as the rosewoods, is a genus of the rose family, Rosaceae. It consists of two species of shrubs found in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. The genus was named for French chemist Louis Nicolas Vauquelin (1763-1829). The nectar provided by these plants is commonly fed on by wasps such as Polistes instabilis.
Brickellia is a North American genus of about 100 to 110 species of plants in the family Asteraceae, known commonly as brickellbushes. They are found in Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Central America. Many species are native to the American southwest, especially Texas. Brickellia is among the more basal lineages of the Eupatorieae and should not be assigned to a subtribe pending further research.
Carlowrightia is a genus of flowering plants in the bear's breeches family, Acanthaceae. Members of the genus, commonly known as wrightworts, are mainly small shrubs bearing inflorescences of lily-like flowers. They are native to the Americas, with many species found in western North America. The genus was named for the American botanist Charles Wright.
The Cichorieae are a tribe in the plant family Asteraceae that includes 93 genera, more than 1,600 sexually reproductive species and more than 7,000 apomictic species. They are found primarily in temperate regions of the Eastern Hemisphere. Cichorieae all have milky latex and flowerheads that only contain one type of floret. The genera Gundelia and Warionia only have disk florets, while all other genera only have ligulate florets. The genera that contain most species are Taraxacum with about 1,600 apomictic species, Hieracium with about 770 sexually reproducing and 5,200 apomictic species, and Pilosella with 110 sexually reproducing and 700 apomictic species. Well-known members include lettuce, chicory, dandelion, and salsify.
Flaveria is a genus of plants in the family Asteraceae. They are sometimes called yellowtops. Some are annual or perennial herbs and some are shrubs. They bear yellow flowers in heads, with zero, one, or two ray florets in each head. These plants are found in the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Australia.
Chrysactinia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, native to Mexico and to the southwestern United States.
Baccharis malibuensis is a rare California species of shrubs in the family Asteraceae known by the common name Malibu baccharis.
Guy L. Nesom is an American writer and botanist.
Gaillardia henricksonii is a Mexican species of flowering plants in the sunflower family. It is native to northwestern Mexico, found only in the State of Coahuila.
Ida Kaplan Langman was a Russian Empire-born, American botanist. She made two long expeditions in Mexico from 1939 to 1941 and from 1948 to 1949. She is best known as the author of A Selected Guide to the Literature on the Flowering Plants of Mexico (1964).
James Solberg Henrickson is an American botanist born in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He was a Professor of Biology at California State University, Los Angeles. He is currently a research fellow at the Plant Resources Center at the University of Texas at Austin.
