Monoptilon bellioides
{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{Speciesbox
|image = Monoptilon bellioides Death Valley.jpg
|genus = Monoptilon
|species = bellioides
|authority = (A.Gray) H.M.Hall
}}
Monoptilon bellioides, the desert star, also called Mojave desertstar,{{PLANTS|id=MOBE2|taxon=Monoptilon bellioides|accessdate=13 July 2015}} is a desert flowering plant in the family Asteraceae.
Description
Monoptilon bellioides is a short annual plant; in seasons with very little rainfall, the plant may only grow to {{Convert|1–2|cm|frac=4}}, if it grows at all, while in seasons of heavy rainfall, it can grow up to {{Convert|25|cm|abbr=on|frac=2}} tall. The leaves are linear, {{Convert|5–10|mm|frac=16}} long, with a blunt apex and stiff hairs.{{Cite book |last=Spellenberg |first=Richard |url=https://archive.org/details/nationalaudubons00spel/page/387/ |title=National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers: Western Region |publisher=Knopf |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-375-40233-3 |edition=rev. |pages=390 |orig-date=1979}}
The flowers are produced in dense inflorescences (capitula), 2 cm wide, with white ray florets and yellow disc florets in the center. The flowers open in the morning and close in the evening.
= Similar species =
Found in the same region, the fruit of Monoptilon bellidiforme is topped by one plume-tipped bristle.
Distribution and habitat
It is native to stony and sandy plains in the Mojave Desert of California, the Sonoran Deserts of the Southwestern United States, and northwestern Mexico. It is very common in the northern, eastern, and southern parts of the desert.
References
{{Reflist}}
- Stewart, Jon Mark (1998). Mojave Desert Wildflowers, p. 41.
External links
- [http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-taxon=Monoptilon+bellioides Calflora Database: Monoptilon bellioides (Mojave desert star)]
- [http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=4181 Jepson eFlora (TJM2) treatment of Monoptilon bellioides]
- [http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/img_query?rel-taxon=begins+with&where-taxon=Monoptilon+bellioides UC CalPhotos gallery of Monoptilon bellioides]
{{Taxonbar|from=Q3321243}}
Category:Flora of the California desert regions
Category:Flora of Northwestern Mexico
Category:Flora of the Sonoran Deserts
Category:Natural history of the Colorado Desert