Chaenactis douglasii is a North American species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common name Douglas' dustymaiden.
Description Chaenactis douglasii is a variable herb, generally a perennial. It grows erect to , with one to many stems coated in cobwebby hairs. The woolly or hairy leaves may be up to long and are divided intricately into many lobes with curled or twisted tips. Stem leaves become smaller and stalkless upwards.Flora of North America, Hoary pincushion, Douglas’s dustymaiden, Chaenactis douglasii (Hooker) Hooker & Arnott, Bot. Beechey Voy. 354. 1839.
The inflorescence produces one or more flower heads, each up to about long. The discoid flower head is lined with flat, glandular, blunt-pointed phyllaries and contains 50–70 white or pinkish tubular disc flowers with protruding anthers.
The fruit is an achene about long including its pappus of scales.
Varieties Chaenactis douglasii var. alpina A.Gray Chaenactis douglasii var. douglasii
Distribution and habitat The plant is found in western Canada and the western United States from British Columbia to Saskatchewan, and south to California to New Mexico, with a few isolated populations in Nebraska and the Dakotas.Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map It grows in a wide variety of habitats, including harsh environments such as rock fields in alpine climates in the Sierra Nevada, east of the crest of the Cascade Range of Washington and Oregon, scrubland and desert, and disturbed areas such as roadsides. Distributed over a wide range of elevations, from sea level to , it is found most often between .Calflora taxon report, University of California, Chaenactis douglasii (Hook.) Hook. & Arn., Chaenactis, Douglas' dustymaiden, hoary chaenactis
Uses Some Plateau Indian tribes used this plant as a dressing for burns, wounds, and sores.
References
External links
Jepson Manual Treatment of Chaenactis douglasii United States Department of Agriculture Plants Profile for Chaenactis douglasii Chaenactis douglasii — Calphotos Photo gallery, University of California