Plant Name
Scientific Name: Gutierrezia serotina
Synonym: Gutierrezia polyantha
Common Name: Late Snakeweed
Plant Characteristics
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Subshrub, Herb/Forb
Arizona Native Status: Native
Habitat: Desert
Flower Color: Yellow disks and rays
Flowering Season: Spring, Summer (late), Fall.
Height: To 1 foot (30 cm) tall
Description: The small flower heads are mostly borne singly and usually have 4 to 9 rays (petals) and 10 to 12 disk florets. The basal leaves are absent at flowering, and the sparse stem leaves are green, 1-veined, and linear to threadlike in shape. The stems are green, wiry, and glabrous (hairless).
The similar Broom Snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae) is also found in the desert, but it is a larger plant and has minutely hairy stems. Other similar Gutierrezia species are only found at higher elevations (in upland areas and in the mountains).
Classification
Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Asteridae
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae – Aster family
Genus: Gutierrezia Lag. – snakeweed
Species: Gutierrezia serotina Greene – late snakeweed
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