Achyrachaena mollis
NATIVE
Description (Jepson, PlantID.net)
- Eudicotyledon
- Eudicots are a major lineage of flowering plants; see family for general characteristics
- Sunflower Family (Asteraceae)
- Only species in its genus
- Annual herb
- Leaves
- Opposite and hairy at plant base
- Alternate and hairy-glandular (sticky) along upper stem
- Flowers
- Inflorescence (flower arrangement) is a radiate head (see Sunflower family)
- Cylindrical, with a flat top
- Phyllaries (vase-like set of reduced leaves/bracts collectively called the involucre) are hairy and glandular (sticky), 3-8 in a single series (row), one for each ray flower
- Individual flowers are tiny and nearly invisible
- Disk flowers (4-35) are yellow to red, bisexual, and fertile
- Ray flowers (3-8) are orange to red, female (pistillate), and fertile
- Ovary inferior (below the attachment of other flower parts)
- Inflorescence (flower arrangement) is a radiate head (see Sunflower family)
- Fruit is an achene (a single-seeded, dry fruit that does not split open), more specifically called a cypsela because of the inferior position of the ovary
- Disk fruits have pappus (modified sepals, outer flower parts) of 10 white, broad scales in 2 series (rows) of different lengths, aiding in dispersal by catching the wind
- Ray fruits are each cupped by a glandular phyllary, aiding in dispersal by catching onto passing animals
- Height to 12 in.
Distribution
- Native to California
- Grows in grasslands and open woodlands, often on clay soils
- See Calflora for statewide observations of this plant
- Outside California, grows from southern Oregon into northern Baja California, Mexico
- Grows at elevations to 4,000 ft.
Uses (San Mateo County Parks prohibits removal of any natural material)
- No documented wildlife or human uses found for this species
Name Derivation
- Achyrachaena (ak-i-ra-KEE-na) – from the Greek for “chaffy achene,” alluding to the pappus
- mollis (MOLL-is) – from the Latin for “soft,” referring to the velvety hairs
- Blow-wives – presumably from the use of the word “blow” to refer to a display of blossoms or anything bright or brilliant and the antique use of “wife” to mean any woman
- As with “tidy-tips” and “goldfields,” this name can be singular or plural
© KKorbholz (L,M), DSchiel (R)
Notes
- Flowerheads can be challenging to interpret
- When in full bloom, the flowerhead appears to be still in bud
- Green phyllaries are visually dominant
- When seeds are developing, the pappus scales appear as clustered white petals
- From the top of the flowerhead, they look like a honeycomb
- When in full fruit, the scales spread out in a showy round cluster
- Pappus scales are shiny, papery-white, and conspicuous
- Aid in wind dispersal
- When in full bloom, the flowerhead appears to be still in bud
- The Tarweed-Silversword subtribe (Madiinae) includes some 127 species, principally in California, where it likely originated, and Hawaii (Flora; Baldwin 2000)
- California’s tarweeds are traditionally called “true tarweeds”
- Most species are summer-flowering annuals in summer-drought habitats
- Leaves and phyllaries are usually hairy and glandular
- Most species have radiate heads of yellow or white flowers
- Each phyllary cups or encloses a single ray flower
- Anthers are usually dark
- Chaffy bracts usually create a ring between the ray and disk flowers
- Edgewood has 10 tarweeds in 5 genera
- Achyrachaena species: blow-wives (A. mollis)
- Hemizonia species: hayfield tarweed (H. congesta ssp. luzulifolia)
- Lagophylla species: common hareleaf (L. ramosissima)
- Layia species: tidy-tips (L. platyglossa), tall layia (L. hieracioides), and woodland tidy-tips (L. gaillardioides)
- Madia species: common madia (M. elegans), threadstem tarweed (M. exigua), slender tarweed (M. gracilis), and coast tarweed (M. sativa)
- California’s tarweeds are traditionally called “true tarweeds”
ID Tips
- Check out this short video (Jepson 2020)
At Edgewood
- Found in serpentine and non-serpentine grasslands
- See iNaturalist for observations of this plant
- Flowers April – May
Specific References
Baldwin, B.G., and B.L.Wessa. 2000, Dec.1. Origin and relationships of the tarweed-silversword lineage (Compositae-Madiinea). American Journal of Botany.
Borders, B.D. Achyrachaena mollis. CSU Stanislaus, Valley Flora Propagation Center Species Profiles.
Jepson Herbarium. 2020, Aug. 14. Achyrachaena mollis (blow wives) [Video]. The Jepson Videos: Visual Guide to the Plants of California. The Regents of the University of California. YouTube.
Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center. 2007. Achyrachaena mollis. Plant Database. University of Texas at Austin.
Prigge, B.A., and A.C. Gibson. 2013. Achyrachaena mollis. A Naturalist’s Flora of the Santa Monica Mountains and Simi Hills, California. Web version, hosted at Wildflowers of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. United States Department of Interior, National Park Service.
General References
Calflora Database. 2014. Berkeley, California.
Calscape. 2018. California Native Plant Society.
Charters, M.L. 2015. California Plant Names: Latin and Greek Meanings and Derivations.
Charters, M.L. 2017. Southern California Wildflowers: Guide to the Pronunciation of Specific, Generic and Family Names.
Corelli, T. 2004. Flowering Plants of Edgewood Natural Preserve (2nd. ed.). Monocot Press, Half Moon Bay, California.
Elpel, T.J. 2013. Botany in a Day: The Patterns Method of Plant Identification. HOPS Press, Pony, Montana.
Flora of North America. efloras.org.
Harris, J.G., and M.W. Harris. 2013. Plant Identification Terminology: An Illustrated Glossary. Spring Lake Publishing, Spring Lake, Utah.
Keator, G. 2009. California Plant Families. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, California.
Native American Ethnobotany DB.
Regents of the University of California. Jepson eFlora. Jepson Herbarium. University of California, Berkeley.