Santa Barbara wirelettuce
Stephanomeria elata Nutt.
Stephanomeria elata, known as Santa Barbara wirelettuce, is an annual herb in the Asteraceae family native to Oregon and California. It grows in coastal and mountain habitats, including the Sierra Nevada. The plant reaches up to 150 cm in height, with a slender, upright stem that is glabrous, puberulent, or glandular-pubescent. Leaves are primarily basal, linear to oblanceolate, and up to 10 cm long, with reduced, bractlike leaves on the stem. The plant is largely leafless during flowering. It produces one to several flower heads per branch, each with 9–15 ray florets and a pink ligule. The fruit is a grooved, tuberculate achene with a plumose pappus of 17–22 bristles. Chromosome number is 2n = 32.
Description
Stephanomeria elata is an annual herb in the Asteraceae family, native to Oregon and California. It is commonly known as Santa Barbara wirelettuce. The plant has a single, slender stem that can grow up to 150 cm tall, with ascending or spreading branches. The stem is glabrous, puberulent, or glandular-pubescent. Leaves are withered by flowering, with basal leaves linear to oblanceolate, 3–10 cm long, and pinnately lobed. Cauline leaves are much reduced and bractlike. Flower heads are borne singly or in clusters, with peduncles 3–7 mm long. Involucres are 5–7 mm, and florets number 9–15. The cypselae are 2.8–4.5 mm, smooth to strongly tuberculate, and grooved. Pappi consist of 17–22 plumose bristles, with bases connate in groups of 2–4. It is found in a variety of habitats and is often leafless for much of the year.
Other common names
Santa Barbara wirelettuce
Distribution
Oregon · California
