California Chicory Flower California Chicory Stem California Chicory Leaves California Chicory Plant


Wildflowers of Southern Arizona


Page  1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

California Chicory.
Rafinesquia californica.
Aster (Asteraceae) family.

Duration: Annual. Nativity: Native. Lifeform: Forb/Herb. General: Erect annual 20-150 cm tall, much branched above, glabrous. Leaves: Oblong to oblanceolate in outline, denticulate to coarsely and shallowly or finely pinnatifid, upper leaves usually entire, lowermost to 20 cm long and petiolate, middle and upper ones sessile and auriculate-clasping. Flowers: Heads paniculate or cymosely arranged at tips of branchlets. involucres 12-20 mm high and 12 mm wide; phyllaries 7-20 in a single series, linear-lanceolate, equal with scarious margins; ray florets 15-30, corollas white, sometimes with rose or purplish veins beneath, surpassing phyllaries by 5-7 mm. Fruits: Light tan or dingy cypselae, 9-14 mm, with very slender beaks 5-7 mm, dull white, dingy or tawny pappus bristles 6-15. Ecology: Found among shrubs and along the margins of open areas from 3,000-5,000 ft (914-1524 m); flowers March-May. Notes: Distinguished by the rays only surpassing the phyllaries by 5-7 mm, as opposed to 15-20 mm in R. neomexicana, as well as having a smaller cypselae body, a longer beak and plumose pappus bristles. Etymology: Rafinesquia is named for Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz (1783-1840) a 19th century botanist, while californica means of or from California.

Santa Catalina Mountains
Sabino Canyon Recreation Area
Location: Bear Canyon trail at edge of wash adjacent to bridge.
3/21/17

See SEINet Pictures and Description

Thumb: Desert Chicory
« D. Chicory
Thumb: Burro Brush
Burro Brush »