Pebble Pincushion
Chaenactis carphoclinia
Photographed near townsite of Brenda, near Quartzite, La Paz County, Arizona, USA. 30 April 2010.
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FLOWERS: Flower heads are composed entirely of five-pointed disc
florets, ten to twenty or more per head. All of the florets including those at
the margin are about the same size. Color in most specimens is white,
occasionally pinkish. Blooming March and April in the Sonoran Desert and highly
dependent on adequate rainfall - absent in drought years. The bracts
surrounding the head are rather sharply pointed.
ANNUAL: Small to medium-sized annual of desert pavement as between
creosote bush. Few plants exceed 30 cm
tall. Several branches to main stem variously coated with a scurfy,
reddish-brown pubescence.
LEAVES: Leaves are discected into linear segments. Under magnification
cobwebby hairs present on petioles and leaves.
RANGE: Occasional to common in open areas of the Sonoran Desert in
Arizona. Also found in California Mojave Desert and New Mexico Chihuahuan
Desert. Absent in drought years.
FRUIT: Single seeds, achenes, develop from each floret and are topped by
some small scales.
UNARMED. Tips of the phyllaries (bracts surrounding flower heads) are
slightly prickly when dried.