Eriophyllum confertiflorum, commonly called golden yarrow or yellow yarrow,[2] is a North American species of plant in the family Asteraceae, native to California and Baja California. It has wooly leaves when young, and yellow flower heads.[3] "Eriophyllum" means "wooly leaved."[3][4]
| Eriophyllum confertiflorum | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Asterales |
| Family: | Asteraceae |
| Genus: | Eriophyllum |
| Species: | E. confertiflorum
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| Binomial name | |
| Eriophyllum confertiflorum | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Synonymy
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Eriophyllum confertiflorum gets its common name from the similar appearance of its inflorescence to the true yarrow, which has white flowers.[3][5][6]
Habitat and distribution
editEriophyllum confertiflorum is a highly variable plant which is generally a small shrub. It grows primarily in the Sierra Nevada and Coastal Ranges in California and Baja California. It can be found in a number of plant communities and habitats. In the Santa Monica Mountains of California, it is common in open places that are away from the coast.[3]
Eriophyllum confertiflorum grows in large clumps or stands of many erect stems often exceeding 50 cm (20 in) in height. Botanist Nancy Dale describes the growth pattern as "tidy".[3] Leaves are alternate.[3] Leaves and stems are whitish when young, because of being covered in wooly white hairs, then become greenish to gray-green.[3] Leaves have 3-5 deep lobes.[3] Yellow flowers are crowded in the head, which is up to 3⁄8 inch (0.95 cm) across, flat-topped, with both disc flowers and ray flowers.[3] "Confertiflorum" means densely flowered.[3] It blooms from January to July.[3] The fruit is an achene with a very short pappus. The top of each stem forms an inflorescence of up to 30 flower heads, each bright golden yellow head with a large center of disc florets and usually a fringe of rounded to oval ray florets.[2]
- Eriophyllum confertiflorum var. confertiflorum - most of species range
- Eriophyllum confertiflorum var. tanacetiflorum (Greene) Jeps. - Sierra Nevada foothills + San Gabriel Mountains
- Eriophyllum confertiflorum var. trifidum (Nutt.) A.Gray - California coast between Santa Barbara + Monterey[7]
References
edit- ^ a b The Plant List, Eriophyllum confertiflorum (DC.) A. Gray
- ^ a b c Flora of North America, Eriophyllum confertiflorum (de Candolle) A. Gray, 1883. Golden or yellow yarrow
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Flowering plants: The Santa Monica Mountains, coastal & chaparral regions of Southern California, Nancy Dale, 2nd Ed., 2000, p. 63
- ^ Mooring, J. S. 1994. A cytogenetic study of Eriophyllum confertiflorum (Compositae, Helenieae). American Journal of Botany 81: 919–926.
- ^ Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map
- ^ a b Calflora taxon report, University of California, Eriophyllum confertiflorum (DC.) A. Gray Yellow Yarrow, golden yarrow
- ^ Rydberg, Per Axel 1915. North American Flora 34(2): 95 as Eriophyllum trifidum
