E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Lygodesmia juncea (Pursh) D. Don ex Hook.
rushlike skeleton-plant (rush skeletonplant)
Asteraceae (Aster family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

Distribution of Lygodesmia juncea
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Species Information

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Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

General:
Perennial herb from a creeping rhizome; stems erect or ascending, branched, marked with grooves, exuding milky juice when broken, 15-60 cm tall.

Leaves:
Basal leaves lacking; stem leaves alternate, linear, 0.5-4 cm long, 1-3 mm wide, upper ones reduced to minute scales.

Flowers:
Heads with strap-shaped flowers, solitary at ends of branches; involucres 9-16 mm tall; involucral bracts of two types, the inner ones narrowly oblanceolate, 4-8 (usually 5), the outer ones reduced and bractlike; ray flowers pink or rarely white.

Fruits:
Achenes spindle-shaped, several-nerved, 6-7 mm long; pappus of numerous white, hairlike bristles.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Dry sandy grasslands or shrublands in the steppe zone; infrequent in extreme SC and SE BC; E to MN and S to AR and AZ.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is not evaluated, unknown or variable.

Status Information

Origin Status	Provincial Status	BC List (Red Blue List)	COSEWIC
Native	S4	Yellow	Not Listed

BC Ministry of Environment: BC Species and Ecosystems Explorer, the authoritative source for conservation information in British Columbia.

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Flora North America treatment for Asteraceae
Flora North America treatment for Lygodesmia juncea
Genetic information (NCBI Taxonomy Database)
International Plant Names Index
Taxonomic Information from the World Flora Online
Integrated Taxonomic Information System

Additional Range and Status Information Links

Burke Museum of Natural History (Washington State records)
CalFlora
Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria records
Jepson Interchange
NatureServe Explorer
USDA

Additional Photo Sources

UBC Herbarium Scanned Collection Record
Images From CalPhoto
UT Austin's Native Plant Database
Google Image Search
Flickr Image Search

General References

Google Scholar Search
Family References
General Botanical References for BC

Recommended citation: Author, Date. Page title. In Klinkenberg, Brian. (Editor) 2020. E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia [eflora.bc.ca]. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. [Accessed: 2024-09-30 9:52:06 PM ]

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