|
Photographer: Kitty Kohout
|
Family Asteraceae
Microseris cuspidata (Pursh) Sch.Bip.
false dandelion, prairie dandelion, prairie false dandelion
Microseris: from the Greek micros, "small," and seris, "a lettuce-like plant"
cuspidata: from Latin meaning "with a cusp," a sharp and rigid point
|
|
| Status: | Special Concern |
| Plant: | erect, perennial, 3"-12" tall forb with milky juice |
| Flower: | head 1" wide with yellow ray flowers; inflorescence with 1 head at the end of a long, bare stalk arising from the base of the plant; blooms April-May |
| Fruit: | dry seed with 10 ribs on bright, white, fluffy pappus |
| Leaf: | alternate, crowded near the base, narrow with a pointed tip, entire but edges often rough |
| Habitat: | sun; dry; prairies; in rocky soil |
| (Glossary) |
|
 Sch.Bip.&phog=Richard Bauer&spcode=MICCUS)
 Sch.Bip.&phog=James R. Sime&spcode=MICCUS)
