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snake's-head
Malacothrix coulteri
Malacothrix coulteri is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common name snake's head, or snake's head desertdandelion. It is native to the southwestern United States is also found in southern South America where it is an introduced species. Its native habitat includes desert, grassland, chaparral, and other open, sandy areas. It is an annual herb producing a waxy, upright flowering stem up to about 50 centimeters in maximum height. The...
From the article Malacothrix coulteri on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Description
It is an annual herb producing a waxy, upright flowering stem up to 10–50 centimetres (4–19+1⁄2 in) in height. The leaves are 5–10 cm (2–4 in) long, mostly located near the base of the stem, and are toothed or not. The inflorescence is an array of flower heads about 3–5 cm (1+1⁄4–2 in) wide, with nearly spherical involucres of scale-like phyllaries 1–2 cm (1⁄2–3⁄4 in) wide. The bracts are green, often with dark striping or marking. The yellow or white ray florets are about 1 cm long.
Similar species. Similar species include Anisocoma acaulis and Calycoseris parryi.
Range & habitat
It is native to the southwestern United States, and it is also an introduced species in southern South America. Its native habitat includes desert, grassland, chaparral, and other open, sandy areas.
Wikipedia: “Distribution and habitat”
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the old herbals & bestiaries
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Malacothrix coulteri in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 58027.