|
Hymenopappus filifolius (Threadleaf Sunflower) Semi-desert, foothills. Woodlands, openings.
Spring. Very fine thread-like mounds of leaves are evident for weeks before tall slender stalks arise and are then topped by several small yellow flower heads. Hymenopappus filifolius, like so many Asteraceae composed only of disk flowers, is easily overlooked. "Hymenopappus" refers to the membranous, scale-like pappus and "filifolius" is from the Latin "fili", "thread" and "folius", "leaf". The botanist David Douglas (of Douglas Fir fame) was the first to collect this plant for science and he did so along the Columbia River "near Wallawallah" in the late 1820s. The plant was described and named by William Jackson Hooker in his Flora Boreali-Americana in 1833. |
|
|
Hymenopappus filifolius (Threadleaf Sunflower) Semi-desert, foothills. Woodlands, openings.
Spring. The first photograph shows basal leaves of a very young plant; the second shows a plant many years old. The gray stems are last year's flower stems. Basal leaves can be confused with those of Chaenactis douglasii variety douglasii. |
|
|
Hymenopappus filifolius (Threadleaf Sunflower) Semi-desert, foothills. Woodlands, openings.
Spring. Flowers range from golden yellow to lemon yellow and there are only disk flowers. Phyllaries can be glabrous or hairy. |
Range map © John Kartesz,
County Color Key
|
Range map for Hymenopappus filifolius |
Species present in state and native
Species present in state and exotic
Species not present in state
Species present and not rare
Species present and rare
Species extirpated (historic)
Species extinct
Species noxious
Species exotic and present
Eradicated
Questionable presence