Xanthisma gracile
Introduction '''''Xanthisma gracile''''' is a species of annual flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names '''slender goldenweed''' and '''annual bristleweed'''.
Range and habitat It is native the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, where it grows in the deserts and plateaus.
Growth pattern It is a bristly annual herb growing erect up to 45 cm tall.
Leaves and stems The oval or oblong leaves are 1–3 cm long and divided into lobes or teeth tipped with bristles.
Flowers and fruit The inflorescence bears one or more flower heads lined with pointed, roughly hairy phyllaries. The head has a center of many yellow disc florets and a fringe of 16 to 18 yellow ray florets roughly a centimeter long. The fruit is a woolly achene 2 to 3 millimeters long tipped with a pappus.
Genetics ''Xanthisma gracile'' has extra chromosomes that do not have any functional genes (B chromosomes), and about which little is known.
References
External links * Jepson Manual Treatment* USDA Plants Profile* Flora of North America* UC Photos gallery