Plant Image
Flower heads


Yavapai County Native & Naturalized Plants

Psilactis asteroides - New Mexico tansyaster

Synonyms: Aster boltoniae, Machaeranthera boltoniae, Psilactis lepta Shinners, P. leptos
Other Common Names: New Mexico bare-ray-aster
Plant Form: Forb or Subshrub

Family: Asteraceae


   
 
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Leaves and flowers
Plant
Forb Plant Description

Origin: Native   Life Cycle: Annual, biennial or perennial
General Desc: Slender, moderately branched with erect or ascending stems, 12 to 24 inches tall; leaves alternate, smooth, toothed or pinnatifid; flower heads small; ray flowers white or purplish, disc flowers yellow; both ray and disc flowers perfect.
Identification notes: Stems erect or weakly ascending, simple, no hairs to densely hairy and glandular; leaf bases towards end of stem wedge-shaped to slightly heart-shaped, sometimes slightly clasping; involucres (bracts below the flower heads) rounded overall, 1/3 inch tall
Height: 12 to 24 inches


Habitat

Habitat Description: Wet or occasionally flooded habitats, stream banks, lakeshores, ditches, fields, disturbed areas.
Plant Communities: Riparian, Disturbed Areas
Elevation: 1500 - 5000 feet


Flower Characteristics

Color: White, purplish, yellow     Shape: Regular in round clusters     Tubular: N     Flowering Period: Jun - Sep
Description: Flower heads solitary at tips of branches; ray florets 20 to 40, disc florets 40 to 75; ray flowers (strap-shaped), 1/4 inch long, purplish; bracts lance-like, 1/8 to 1/4 inch high, outer bracts oblong, green, narrow, minutely and closely glandular


Leaf and Stem Characteristics

Leaf Color: Green     Leaf Type: Simple     Leaf Shape: Narrow     Leaf Margin: Smooth     Leaf Attachment: Alternate     Leaves Clasp: Y
Hairs: Leaves and stems     Spines: N
Leaf Description: Leaves narrow to oblong, stemless, to 1-1/2 inches long, smooth or slightly toothed, sparsely hairy.


Fruit and Seed Characteristics

Fruit Type: Achene
Fruit Notes: Achenes more or less compressed, slightly striate (long, thin lines), sparsely appressed-hairy; ray achenes without pappus, disc achenes with pappus of capillary bristles about as long as the achenes.


  Arizona Cooperative Extension
Yavapai County
840 Rodeo Dr #C
Prescott, AZ 86305
(928) 445-6590
Version 8.0  
http://cales.arizona.edu/yavapaiplants/SpeciesDetailForb.php  
Last Updated: Dec 13, 2022
Content Questions/Comments: Email Matt Halldorson  
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