Stephanomeria pauciflora
(Torr.) A, Nelson
Brownplume wire-lettuce
(c) Steve Jones, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Steve Jones
(c) Fred Melgert / Carla Hoegen, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Fred Melgert / Carla Hoegen
(c) Jan Thompson, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Jan Thompson
What to Eat
Edible parts: Gum
The thick liquid is used as a chewing gum.
Where to Find It
It is a temperate plant.
North America, USA,
How to Identify
An herb in the aster family found in temperate regions.
Wikipedia
Source ↗Stephanomeria pauciflora is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common names brownplume wirelettuce, few-flowered wirelettuce, and prairie skeletonplant. It is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, where it grows in many types of habitat, including many desert areas, woodlands, and plains. It is a perennial herb or bushy subshrub producing one or more sturdy, stiff stems with many spreading branches, taking a rounded but vertical form. The leaves are mostly basal and ephemeral, with smaller, scale-like leaves occurring on the upper stem. Flower heads occur at intervals along the mostly naked stems, especially near the tips. Each has a cylindrical base covered in hairless phyllaries. It contains 3 to 6 florets, each with an elongated tube and a flat pink ligule. The fruit is an achene tipped with a spreading cluster of plumelike pappus bristles. These are usually brownish, but are sometimes white. The specific epithet pauciflora, refers to the Latin term for 'few flowered'.
References (1)
- Moerman, D. F., 2010, Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press. p 544
