View source for Biology:Microseris heterocarpa

{{Short description|Species of plant}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Stebbinsoseris heterocarpa.jpg
| genus = Microseris
| species = heterocarpa
| authority = ([[Biography:Thomas Nuttall|Nutt.]]) K.L.Chambers
| synonyms_ref = <ref name=POWO>{{cite web |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:160483-2 |title=''Microseris heterocarpa'' |date=2022 |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew|access-date=11 June 2022}}</ref>
| synonyms = {{Species list|
Calais kelloggii| Greene|
Microseris lindleyi var. clevelandii| H.M.Hall|
Stebbinsoseris heterocarpa| (Nutt.) K.L.Chambers|
Uropappus heterocarpus| Nutt.|
Uropappus kelloggii| Greene|
Uropappus macrochaetus var. kelloggii| (Greene) Jeps.
}}
}}

'''''Microseris heterocarpa''''', known by the common name '''grassland silverpuffs''', is a species of flowering plant in the family [[Biology:Asteraceae|Asteraceae]].

==Distribution==
It is native to southwestern North America, where it can be found in various areas of {{wipe|California}}, and parts of  Arizona and northern Mexico. It grows in open habitat in [[Biology:Chaparral|chaparral]], woodlands, grasslands, desert, Sierra foothill, and inland canyons.

This species is also found on Guadalupe Island, a Mexican island in the Pacific Ocean.<ref name="rebman">{{Cite journal |last1=Rebman |first1=J. P. |last2=Gibson |first2=J. |last3=Rich |first3=K. |date=2016 |title=Annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Baja California, Mexico |url=http://sdplantatlas.org/pdffiles/BajaChecklist2016.pdf |journal=San Diego Society of Natural History |volume=45 |pages=74}}</ref>

==Description==
''Microseris heterocarpa'' is variable in morphology. In general, it is an annual herb with a basal rosette of large leaves. The [[Biology:Inflorescence|inflorescence]] arises on a tall [[Biology:Peduncle (botany)|peduncle]] bearing a solitary flower head. The head is lined in hairless [[Biology:Bract|phyllaries]] and contains many ray florets, often over 100, in shades of yellow or white.

The fruit is an [[Biology:Achene|achene]] with a brown, gray, blue, or purple body tipped with a pappus of five long, spreading scales, the whole unit measuring 1 or 2 centimeters.

This species is suspected to be a [[Biology:Hybrid|hybrid]] between ''[[Biology:Microseris douglasii|Microseris douglasii]]'' and ''[[Biology:Uropappus lindleyi|Uropappus lindleyi]]'' which may have evolved independently, possibly three times.<ref>[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250067595 Flora of North America]</ref> The plant comes in a wide variety of appearances with variations in florescence properties and size, as well as height, ranging on a scale between both of the suspected parent taxa.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?609,1861,1863 Jepson Manual Treatment - ''Stebbinsoseris heterocarpa'']
*[http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=MIHE USDA Plants Profile]
*[http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&where-taxon=Stebbinsoseris+heterocarpa ''Stebbinsoseris heterocarpa'' - Photo gallery]

{{Taxonbar|from1=Q67193064|from2=Q7605553}}

[[Category:Cichorieae]]



{{Sourceattribution|Microseris heterocarpa}}