Stems 1–several from the base, 0.5–4 dm; lvs linear or lance-linear, 1–2 cm × 1–3 mm, erect or nearly so; stem terminating by a sessile dense cluster of heads, this usually subtended by several leafy branches terminating in similar clusters, and these often again proliferous; heads 3.5–4.5 mm; woolly only toward the base, proper involucral bracts few or none, when present resembling the bracts of the receptacle, these largely hyaline-scarious and shining, with a firmer, darker central portion, each tipped by a conspicuous, short, often somewhat spreading bristle; receptacle shortly cylindric-obconic; inner pistillate flowers ca 20–25; disk (perfect) fls 2–3; 2n=28. Native of Europe, intr. in disturbed sites from N.Y. and O. s. May–Sept. (F. vulgaris; Gifola g.) Wagenitz’s argument that the species should be called F. vulgaris is here rejected.
Home