Plectocephalus americanus (Nutt.) D.Don

Species

Angiosperms > Asterales > Asteraceae > Plectocephalus

Characteristics

Plants 50–200 cm. Stems usually 1, erect, sparingly branched, glabrous, minutely scabrous and glandular. Leaves scabrous; basal sessile or winged-petiolate, usually absent at anthesis, blades oblanceolate to narrowly obovate, 10–20 cm, margins entire or sparingly denticulate; cauline sessile, usually not much smaller except among heads, blades ovate to lanceolate, mostly 5–10 cm, entire or serrulate. Involucres broadly hemispheric, 30–50 mm. Phyllaries: bodies pale green, broadly elliptic (outer) to linear (inner), apices with appendages erect to spreading, whitish to stramineous (less commonly pale brown to purple), fringed with 9–15 slender spinelike teeth 2–3 mm, teeth not conspicuously ciliate. mid with (4–)5–7(–8) pairs of lobes; faces glabrous or loosely cobwebby-tomentose. Corollas of neutral florets pink-purple (rarely white), 35–50 mm, enlarged, raylike; of bisexual florets pinkish, 20–25 mm. Cypselae grayish brown to black, 4–5 mm, glabrous or with white hairs near bases; pappus bristles unequal, stiff, 6–14 mm. 2n = 26.
Life form annual
Growth form herb
Growth support -
Foliage retention -
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 0.5 - 2.0
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

Light 7-9
Soil humidity 3-7
Soil texture 3-4
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 4-8

Usage

Uses medicinal
Edible -
Therapeutic use Dermatological Aid (leaf), Cyanogenetic (unspecified)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Mode -
Germination duration (days) 7 - 14
Germination temperacture (C°) 21
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -35
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Plectocephalus americanus unspecified picture

Distribution

Plectocephalus americanus world distribution map, present in Honduras, Mexico, El Salvador, and United States of America

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:238714-1
WFO ID wfo-0000051395
COL ID 4K3BT
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID 967661
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Centaurea nuttallii Calcitrapa patibilcensis Centaurea mexicana Centaurea grandiflora Centaurea americana Plectocephalus americanus