Xanthisma grindelioides (Toothed Iron Plant) - photos and description

 


15 cm ruler for scale

 


Looking straight down on flower head.

 

 

Origin: Native.

General: Tufted plant with a woody caudex, foliage densely hairy with appressed hairs, foliage greyish-green in colour.

Flowers: Flower heads numerous in cymes, lacking ray florets. We measured a flower at 8 mm across and 12 mm long.

Leaves: Alternate, spatulate, serrate with spiny teeth. We measured leaves to 35 mm long, 9 mm wide.

Height: Height listed in Budd's Flora to 30 cm, we measured plants to 10 cm tall.

Habitat: Dry, eroded hillsides and badlands.

Abundance: Fairly common.

Synonym: Listed in some of the field guides we use as Haplopappus nuttallii, and Machaeranthera grindelioides.

When and where photographed: Photos taken June 19 and 20th, clay hillsides, Buffalo Grass Eco Reserve about 200 km SE of our home in Regina, SK.