Hymenothrix dissecta

Leaf lobes (3-)7-25(-75+), ovate to oblong or lanceolate to lance-linear, 4-12(-25+) × (1-)2-6(-12+) mm. Involucres 5-7+ × 10-18+ mm. Ray laminae 5-10+ mm. Disc corollas 2.5-3(-4+) mm, ± stipitate-glandular. Cypselae 2.5-4+ mm. 2n (= 3x) = 36.

Flowering (Jun-)Aug-Sep(-Oct). Usually on sandy or gravelly soils, openings in pinyon-juniper, yellow pine, or spruce-fir forests; 1600-2900 m; Ariz., Calif., Colo., Nev., N.Mex., Tex., Utah, Wyo.; Mexico (Baja California, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Sonora).

FNA 2006, Kearney and Peebles 1969, McDougall 1973

Duration: Perennial Nativity: Native Lifeform: Forb/Herb General: Usually biennial herb, sometimes persisting longer, to 80 cm tall; stems glandular, light bluish-green, branching above the base. Leaves: Basal and alternate-cauline; petiolate; 2-3 times ternately cleft (divided and re-divided into 3 lobes), the final segments linear or oblong; entire leaf to 7 cm long, puberulent. Flowers: Flower heads large, radiate, in loose, few-flowered panicles at branch tips, on 1-6 cm peduncles; involucres hemispheric, 5-6 mm high, the bracts in 2 series, glandular-hairy, cuspidate at the tips; 10-15 pistillate ray flowers ring the outside of the head, the rays 6-9 mm long, yellow; remaining flowers are 30-80 yellow discs (radial, bisexual, with a 5-lobed corolla), 3 mm high. Fruits: Achenes black, 4-angled, without pappus. Ecology: Found on gravelly or sandy soils in grasslands, pi-on-juniper woodlands or spruce-fir and open pine forests, from 5,000-9,000 ft (1524-2743 m); flowers August-October. Distribution: w US from CA to WY, south to TX; n MEX Notes: Look for a yellow-flowered composite with alternate, dissected leaves and stems that branch well above the ground, the branches terminating in large sunflower-like heads. The flowering heads have rays and discs, all yellow, and no pappus (hairs, awns or scales attached to the top of the seeds). Other species traditionally placed into the genus Bahia in Arizona all have pappus of scales. Ethnobotany: An infusion of the plant was used as a cathartic, emetic, contraceptive, to ease menstural pain, and for headache, rheumatism and arthritis. Etymology: Amauriopsis means resembling the genus Amauria, while dissecta means dissected, referring to the leaves. Synonyms: Bahia dissecta, Amauria dissecta Editor: LCrumbacher 2011, AHazelton 2015