Peucephyllum schottii

Leaves 5-20(-50) × 1-2 mm. Peduncles 8-25 mm, glabrous or stipitate-glandular. Disc corollas 6.5-8.5 mm. Cypselae 3.2-4 mm; pappus elements 2-6 mm. 2n = 40.

Flowering spring (following rains). Desert scrubs, soils from granitics, limestones, sandstones, volcanics; -50-1400 m; Ariz., Calif., Nev., Utah; Mexico (Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora).

FNA 2006, Keil 2014 (Jepson Online), Kearny and Peebles 1979

Common Name: Schott's pygmycedar Duration: Perennial Nativity: Native Lifeform: Tree General: Much-branched shrubs or small trees, mostly 1-3 m tall, with a rounded shape; stems densely leafy above, naked and whitish-barked below. Leaves: Alternate and sessile; blades narrowly linear, 1-2 cm long by 1-2 mm wide, glabrous, gland-dotted, and resin-varnished; margins generally entire, though rarely some leaves have 1-2 lateral lobes. Flowers: Flower heads discoid, solitary, subtended by leafy bracts; involucre (ring of bracts wrapped around flower head) turbinate to campanulate, 6-12 mm diam, the bracts (phyllaries) 9-18 in 1-2 series, linear to lanceolate with acuminate and gland-dotted tips, the outer phyllaries grading into the subtending leaves; florets 12-21, all discs, the corollas 7-8 mm high, creamy yellow, sometimes with purplish tips. Fruits: Achenes 3-4 mm long, obconic to obpyramidal, blackish and hirsute, topped with a pappus of 30-60 bristles, 2-5 mm long, and sometimes also 15--20 slender scales, these 4-6 mm long. Ecology: Found on rocky slopes, in various soils including granitics, limestones, sandstones, volcanics, in washes, and in creosote-bush scrub, below 4,500 ft (1372 m) flowers December-June, following rains. Distribution: AZ, CA, NV, and UT; south to MEX (Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora). Notes: This unusual shrub is found in the desert mountain ranges along the AZ-CA border. It resembles a conifer with its short needle-like leaves, but is clearly in the Asteraceae with its discoid flower heads surrounded by many pine-needle-like bracts, with the flowers light yellow grading into purplish tips. Look also for the punctate glands on the leaves. Ethnobotany: Unknown Etymology: Peuccephyllum is from the Greek peuke, pine or fir, and phyllon, leaf; schottii honors Arthur Carl Victor Schott (1814-1875), one of the naturalists of the Mexican Boundary Survey. Synonyms: Psathyrotes schottii Editor: AHazelton 2015