5.
Encelia virginensis
A. Nelson, Bot. Gaz. 37: 272. 1904.
Encelia frutescens
(A. Gray) A. Gray var.
virginensis
(A. Nelson) S. F. Blake
Shrubs,
50—150 cm.
Stems
with slender branches from bases, hairy, developing fissured barks.
Leaves
cauline; petioles 2—7 mm; blades gray-green, narrowly ovate to deltate, 12—25 mm, apices acute or obtuse, faces sparsely canescent and strigose.
Heads
borne singly.
Peduncles
canescent.
Involucres
9—13 mm.
Phyllaries
narrowly ovate.
Ray florets
11—21; corolla laminae 8—15 mm.
Disc corollas
yellow, 5—6 mm.
Cypselae
5—8 mm;
pappi
usually 0, rarely of 1—2 bristlelike awns.
2
n
= 36.
Flowering Apr—Jun, Dec. Desert flats, rocky slopes, roadsides; 500—1500 m; Ariz., Calif., Nev., N.Mex., Utah.
In the mountains of the eastern Mojave Desert in California,
Encelia virginensis
may intergrade with
E. actoni
at higher elevations, probably as a result of hybridization. Plants of
E. virginensis
in New Mexico may be adventive.
