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• Coreopsis palmata

Coreopsis palmata — stiff tickseed

Facts

Stiff tickseed is native to the Great Plains and parts of the Midwest and South, but it is not native to New England, and has only been collected in Massachusetts. Its opposite, basal leaves are divided into three to five narrow lobes, and it has large, striking yellow flowers.

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), meadows and fields

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Bract cycle number

  there are two main cycles of bracts

  Bract inner side hairs

  the bracts are not hairy on their inner surfaces

  Bract outer side hair type

  the bracts are not hairy on their outer surface

  Bract outer side hairs

  the bracts are not hairy on their outer surfaces

  Bract separation

  • at least some flower heads have bracts connected to one another at or near their bases
  • the bracts appear completely unconnected to one another on all flower heads

  Bract shape

  • the main bracts are lanceolate (widest above the base, then taper narrowly towards the tip)
  • the main bracts are oblong (roughly rectangular but rounded at the ends)
  • the main bracts are orbicular (roughly circular)

  Bract spines

  the bracts have no spines

  Bract texture

  • the bracts appear thin, flexible and nearly translucent
  • the bracts have a similar texture to a leaf

  Bract tip orientation

  the bracts are pressed against the plant, or spreading out at the tips

  Bract tip shape

  • the tips of the bracts acute (have a sharp point)
  • the tips of the bracts are rounded

  Bracts

  there are at least two distinct forms of bracts in different cycles

  Disk flower color

  yellow

  Disk flower lobe number

  5

  Disk flower number

  more than 50

  Disk flower reproductive parts

  the disk flower has both pollen- and seed-producing parts

  Disk flower shape

  the disk flower is tube-shaped (cylindrical), or gradually widening like a funnel

  Disk width

  8–15 mm

  Flower head number

  each flowering stem has only one to three flower heads on it

  Flower head outer flowers

  at the outer edge of the flower head, each flower has a single enlarged lobe or strap

  Flower head platform

  the base has papery scales on it

  Flower head platform surface

  the scales are smooth, no visible hairs

  Flower head position

  each of the flower heads is separate on its own peduncle (stalk), not clustered in groups

  Flower head profile

  • the disk is flat or nearly flat across the top
  • the disk is rounded across the top

  Flower head shape

  the sides of the flower head are roughly parallel, like a cylinder

  Flower head width

  38–75 mm

  Flower type in flower heads

  the flower head has tubular disk flowers in the center and ray flowers, these often strap-shaped, around the periphery

  Height of flower head base

  6–10 mm

  Inflorescence branching (Solidago)

  NA

  Inflorescence shape

  NA

  Inflorescence stem

  the stem of the inflorescence is not hairy

  Number of bracts at flower head base

  17–20

  Ovary cross-section

  the ovary is compressed (flattened)

  Ovary profile

  in profile, the ovary is oblong (roughly rectangular but rounded at the ends)

  Ovary wing number

  1-2

  Peduncle hair type

  NA

  Peduncle hairs

  the peduncles have no hairs

  Peduncle length

  10–40 mm

  Ray flower color

  yellow

  Ray flower reproductive parts

  • the ray flowers have carpels or stamens, but not both
  • there are neither carpels nor stamens in the ray flowers

  Ray flowers

  • 1-5
  • 11-15
  • 6-10

  Ray length

  15–25 mm

  Reproductive system

  • all the flowers on the plant contain both carpels and stamens
  • some of the flowers on the plant have only carpels or stamens, while others have both carpels and stamens

  Scale tip

  • the scales are acute (sharply pointed) at the top
  • the scales are rounded at the top

  Smaller bracts at base of bracts

  there is a cycle of much smaller bracts outside the cycle of larger and longer bracts

  Style branch number

  the style has two branches

  Style branches

  the style branch is narrow at the tip, or the style branches are narrow at the tips

  Width of flower head base

  4–25 mm

• Fruits or seeds

  Number of pappus parts

  • 0
  • 2

  Ovary length in developed fruit

  4.5–6.5 mm

  Ovary width in developed fruit

  1.8–4 mm

  Seed hair tuft bases

  NA

  Seed hair tuft color

  NA

  Seed hair tuft details

  NA

  Seed hair tuft length

  At least 0 mm

  Seed hair tuft tips

  NA

  Seed hairs uniform

  NA

  Seed tuft scale number

  0–2

  Seed tuft type

  • the pappus is made of flat scales that are not split or frayed at the tips
  • there is no pappus on the ovary

  Top of disk flower ovary

  NA

  Tuft or plume on fruit

  there is no plume, or the plume is made up of scales, awns, a crown, or a rim

• Glands or sap

  Sap

  the sap is clear and watery

• Growth form

  Growth form

  the plant has one or more free-standing stems

  Plant lifespan

  the plant is perennial, it shows evidence of previous year's leaves, stems or stem bases

  Spines on plant

  the plant has no spines

  Underground organs

  the plant has a rhizome (a horizontal underground stem with roots growing from it)

• Leaves

  Final leaf segment width (compound lvs only)

  2–7 mm

  Hairs on underside of leaf blade

  the underside of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Hairs on upper side of leaf blade

  the upper side of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Leaf arrangement

  opposite: there are two leaves per node along the stem

  Leaf blade base

  the leaf has no petiole

  Leaf blade base shape

  the base of the leaf blade is cuneate (wedge-shaped, tapers to the base with relatively straight, converging edges), or narrow

  Leaf blade edges

  • the edge of the leaf blade has lobes, or it has both teeth and lobes
  • the edge of the leaf blade has no teeth or lobes

  Leaf blade hairs

  NA

  Leaf blade length

  5–40 mm

  Leaf blade shape

  • the leaf blade is linear (very narrow with more or less parallel sides)
  • the leaf blade is oblong (rectangular but with rounded ends)

  Leaf blade surface colors

  there is no noticeable color variation on the upper surface of the leaf

  Leaf blade tip

  • the tip of the leaf blade is acute (sharply pointed)
  • the tip of the leaf blade is obtuse (bluntly pointed)

  Leaf blade veins

  the leaf blade has one main vein running from the base towards the tip

  Leaf blade width

  2–7 mm

  Leaf disposition

  the leaves are nearly similar in size, prominence of teeth, and length of stalks throughout the stem

  Leaf spines

  there are no spines on the leaf edges

  Leaf stalk

  the leaves have no leaf stalks, but attach directly to the stem

  Leaf stalk length

  0–1 mm

  Leaf tip extension

  NA

  Leaf type

  leaves are simple (lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets)

  Leaflet number

  3–5

  Specific leaf type

  • the leaf has lobes that radiate from the base, somewhat like a hand
  • the leaves are simple (lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets

• Place

  Habitat

  terrestrial

  New England state

  Massachusetts

  Specific habitat

  • man-made or disturbed habitats
  • meadows or fields

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Leaves on stem

  there is at least one full leaf above the base of the flowering stem

  Stem internode hair direction

  NA

  Stem internode hair length

  0 mm

  Stem internode hair type

  the stem has no hairs between the nodes

  Stem internode hairs

  the stem has no hairs between the nodes

Wetland status

Not classified

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae