Parry's townsendia (Parry's Townsend daisy)
Asteraceae (Aster family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Biennial or short-lived perennial from a taproot; stems erect, solitary to few, simple or rarely branched, moderately to densely stiff-hairy, 10-35 (rarely less than 5) cm tall.
Leaves:
Basal leaves spoon-shaped, tufted and persistent, stalked, 1-10 cm long including the stalks, 2-13 mm wide; stem leaves similar, becoming oblanceolate and reduced above.
Flowers:
Heads with ray and disk flowers, terminating the stem or few branches; involucres 9-18 mm tall; involucral bracts lanceolate, in 4-7 (mostly 5) series, margins translucent and fringed, lightly-hairy, especially towards the center; ray flowers purplish to blue or rarely white or pink, often distinctly bluish when dried, 20-70, 12-25 mm long; disk flowers yellow, 4-6 mm long.
Fruits:
Achenes oblanceolate to narrowly egg-shaped, compressed, 2- to 3-ribbed, densely-hairy with forked hairs, papillose; pappus of 15-40 finely-barbed bristles, slightly longer than the disk flowers.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
Ecology
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
2096 | 1585 | 2510 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
35 | 15 | 55 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
264 | 198 | 350 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
1 | 0 | 2 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
B | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
3 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
ESSF | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
ESSF(3) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Dry rocky slopes in the alpine zone; rare in SE BC; E to AB and S to CO and OR.Status Information
Taxonomic Keys
1. Heads usually on tall stems, the stems usually 10-35 (rarely less than 5) cm tall; involucral bracts without a tuft of tangled hairs at the tips; plants of the alpine zone...................T. parryi
1. Heads unstalked or on short stems usually less than 5 cm tall; involucral bracts usually with a tuft of tangled hairs at the tips; plants of the steppe and montane zones..................T. hookeri Source: Illustrated Flora of British Columbia |