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

Chondrilla juncea L.
skeleton-weed (rush skeletonweed)
Asteraceae (Aster family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© Thayne Tuason  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #76395)

E-Flora BC Static Map
Distribution of Chondrilla juncea
Click here to view our interactive map and legend
Details about map content are available here
Click on the map dots to view record details.

Species Information

Click on the image below to view an expanded illustration for this species.



General:
Perennial herb from a taproot; stems rushlike with milky juice, much branched, spreading, stiff-hairy near the base, 0.4-1.0 m tall.
Leaves:
Basal and lower stem leaves sharply cleft or pinnately cut, with backward pointing segments, wing-stalked, 5-13 cm long, 1.5-3.5 cm wide, soon deciduous; middle and upper stem leaves alternate, reduced, linear.
Flowers:
Heads with strap-shaped flowers, cylindric, scattered along the branches; involucres 9-12 mm tall; involucral bracts about 8, linear-lanceolate, glabrous or sparsely woolly-hairy, in 2 series, the outer ones few and reduced; ray flowers yellow, 9-12; disk flowers lacking.
Fruits:
Achenes multinerved, about 3 mm long with a circle of small scales at the base of the long, slender beak; pappus of numerous, white, hairlike bristles.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Dry grasslands, roadsides and waste places in the steppe zone; rare in SC BC; introduced from Eurasia.

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.

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Additional Photo Sources

General References