Tetradymia spinosa

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Tetradymia spinosa
Tetradymiaspinosa.jpg
Status TNC G5.svg
Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Tetradymia
Species:
T. spinosa
Binomial name
Tetradymia spinosa

Tetradymia spinosa is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common name shortspine horsebrush. [1] It is native to the western United States, especially the basins and plateaus west of the Rocky Mountains. It grows in sagebrush, woodlands, and scrub habitat, often among shadscale in alkaline areas such as playas. It is a bushy shrub with many branches coated in woolly white fibers and growing to a maximum height around a meter. The leaves are narrow, curving, and hooklike, hardening into sharp spines up to 2.5 centimeters long. The inflorescence bears one or two flower heads which are each enveloped in four to six woolly phyllaries. Each head contains up to 8 tubular yellow disc flowers [2] up to 1 cm long. The fruit is a densely hairy achene which may be nearly 2 cm long, including its pappus of long bristles.

The plant is extremely toxic, although it is unpalatable and unlikely to be eaten. Consumption causes liver damage and extreme light sensitivity, which in combination may be deadly. [2] The latter effect is caused by a pigment entering the superficial circulatory system, producing a sunburn-like effect as well as swelling around the head in light-colored animals, particularly sheep. [2]

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Tetradymia argyraea is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common names striped cottonthorn and striped horsebrush. It is native to the desert mountains of the southwestern United States, particularly of California, Nevada, and Arizona, where it grows in desert woodland habitat. It is a woolly, spiny shrub growing one half to nearly two meters in maximum height. The erect stems are white-woolly except for bare stripes at intervals. The leaves are linear in shape and harden as they age, becoming spiny. The larger leaves are woolly and there are clusters of smaller, threadlike leaves which may be hairless. The inflorescence bears two to five flower heads which are each enveloped in five thick phyllaries coated in white woolly hairs. Each head contains five pale yellow flowers each around a centimeter long. Flowers are produced in summer, as late as September. The fruit is an achene a few millimeters long tipped with a pappus of bristles.

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Tetradymia tetrameres is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common name fourpart horsebrush and dune horsebrush. It is native to the Great Basin, where it occurs in western Nevada and just over the border in Mono County, California. It is a plant of dry scrub and sand dunes. It is a bushy, woolly shrub with many erect, spineless branches. It is the largest of the horsebrushes, growing up to two meters in height. The soft, woolly leaves are narrow and threadlike, growing up to 4 centimeters long. Shorter leaves occur in clusters around the primary leaves. The inflorescence bears 4 to 6 flower heads which are each enveloped in four or five woolly phyllaries. Each head contains up to four or five light yellow flowers each around a centimeter long. The fruit is a hairy achene which may be up to a centimeter long, including its pappus of long bristles.

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<i>Wyethia mollis</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Schoenocrambe argillacea</i>

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References

  1. USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Tetradymia spinosa". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 Taylor, Ronald J. (1994) [1992]. Sagebrush Country: A Wildflower Sanctuary (rev. ed.). Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Pub. Co. p. 156. ISBN   0-87842-280-3. OCLC   25708726.