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• Microseris douglasii

Microseris douglasii — Douglas' silverpuffs

Facts

Native to California and Oregon, Douglas' silverpuffs was collected from the waste area of a wool carding factory in Massachusetts, undoubtedly an ephemeral occurrence.

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats)

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Bract cycle number

  there are two main cycles of bracts

  Bract inner side hairs

  • the bracts are hairy on their inner surfaces
  • the bracts are not hairy on their inner surfaces

  Bract outer side hair type

  • the bracts are hairy, with simple hairs on their outer surface
  • the bracts are not hairy on their outer surface

  Bract outer side hairs

  • the bracts are hairy on their outer surfaces
  • the bracts are not hairy on their outer surfaces

  Bract shape

  • the main bracts are lanceolate (widest above the base, then taper narrowly towards the tip)
  • the main bracts are of a different shape than the given options

  Bract spines

  the bracts have no spines

  Bracts

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

  Disk flower color

  NA

  Disk flower lobe number

  NA

  Disk flower number

  0

  Disk flower proportions

  NA

  Disk flower reproductive parts

  NA

  Disk flower shape

  NA

  Flower head number

  • each flowering stem has four or more flower heads on it
  • 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 no bristles or papery scales

  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

  NA

  Flower type in flower heads

  the flower head has ray flowers only, meaning all of the individual flowers of the flower head have a strap-shaped ray, which may or may not have teeth at the very tip of the ray

  Height of flower head base

  7–16 mm

  Inflorescence branching (Solidago)

  NA

  Inflorescence shape

  NA

  Ovary beak

  there is a beak on the ovary

  Ovary cross-section

  the ovary has five or more corners in cross-section

  Ovary lines or ribs

  there are ten or more ribs visible on the ovary

  Ovary profile

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

  Peduncle hair type

  NA

  Peduncle hairs

  the peduncles have no hairs

  Ray flower color

  • white
  • yellow

  Ray flower reproductive parts

  the ray flowers have both carpels and stamens

  Ray flowers

  • 1-5
  • more than 50

  Reproductive system

  NA

  Smaller bracts at base of bracts

  there is no smaller, outer cycle of bracts

  Swelling at base of flower head

  the peduncles are not swollen, or only slightly

• Fruits or seeds

  Number of pappus parts

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

  Ovary length in developed fruit

  3–10 mm

  Seed hair tuft color

  the pappus hairs are white or off-white

  Seed hair tuft details

  the pappus hairs are hooked or barbed

  Seed hair tuft length

  2–7 mm

  Seed hair tuft tips

  the pappus hairs are slender

  Seed tuft scale number

  0–1.5

  Seed tuft type

  the pappus is made of flat scales that are not split or frayed at the tips

  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 milky and opaque, and may be white or colored

• Growth form

  Growth form

  the plant has one or more free-standing stems

  Plant lifespan

  the plant is annual, it lacks evidence of previous years' growth

  Spines on plant

  the plant has no spines

  Underground organs

  there is a thickened taproot on the plant

• Leaves

  Hairs on underside of leaf blade

  the underside of the leaf is fuzzy or hairy

  Hairs on upper side of leaf blade

  the upper side of the leaf is fuzzy or hairy

  Leaf arrangement

  the leaves are growing only at the base of the plant (basal)

  Leaf blade base

  the leaf has a distinct 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
  • the edge of the leaf blade has teeth

  Leaf blade hairs

  the leaf blade has simple hairs with no glands, and not tangled or wooly

  Leaf blade length

  30–250 mm

  Leaf blade shape

  • the leaf blade is linear (very narrow with more or less parallel sides)
  • the leaf blade is oblanceolate (lance-shaped, but with the widest point above the middle of the leaf blade)

  Leaf blade tip

  • the tip of the leaf blade is acuminate (tapers to a long, thin point)
  • the tip of the leaf blade is acute (sharply pointed)

  Leaf disposition

  the lower leaves are larger, toothier, and/or on longer stalks than the upper leaves

  Leaf spines

  there are no spines on the leaf edges

  Leaf type

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

  Specific leaf type

  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

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Leaves on stem

  the flowering stem has no leaves above the base

  Stem internode hair direction

  the hairs point mostly upwards to outwards

  Stem internode hair type

  the hairs on the stem are plain, without glands or branches, and not tangled

  Stem internode hairs

  the stem has hairs between the nodes

Wetland status

Occurs only in non-wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: UPL)

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae