Chloracantha facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Chloracantha |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| (unranked): | |
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| Order: | |
| Family: | |
| Subfamily: |
Asteroideae
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| Tribe: |
Astereae
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| Genus: |
Chloracantha
G.L.Nesom, et al.
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| Species: |
C. spinosa
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| Binomial name | |
| Chloracantha spinosa (Benth.) G.L.Nesom
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| Synonyms | |
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Chloracantha spinosa is a type of flowering plant. It's the only species in its group, called a monotypic genus, named Chloracantha. This plant belongs to the aster family, which also includes sunflowers and daisies.
People have different names for this plant. In English, it's often called spiny chloracantha, spiny aster, devilweed aster, or Mexican devilweed. In Spanish, it's known as espina de agua, espinaza, and espinosilla.
Contents
Where Does Spiny Aster Grow?
You can find Chloracantha spinosa in many places. It grows in the southwestern and south-central parts of the United States. This includes states like California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. It's also very common throughout most of Mexico and a large part of Central America.
What Does Spiny Aster Look Like?
This plant is a perennial herb or a small subshrub. This means it lives for several years. Its stems are green and might look like soft herbs, but they are actually quite tough. They can live for a few years and grow quickly.
- Stems: The stems are smooth and sometimes feel waxy. Some of the side branches can be very sharp and small, turning into thorns.
- Leaves: The leaves grow one after another along the stem. They don't stay on the plant for very long and fall off quickly.
- Roots: Large groups of these bare stems grow from strong rhizomes. Rhizomes are like underground stems that help the plant spread.
- Size: The stems usually grow to about 1.5 meters (about 5 feet) tall. But sometimes, they can grow even taller, over 2 meters (about 6.5 feet).
- Flowers: The plant has many small flower heads that grow in loose groups. Each flower head is about half a centimeter long and wide. The outside of the head has layers of smooth phyllaries. Inside, there can be up to 33 white ray florets (like the petals of a daisy) and many yellow disc florets in the center.
- Seeds: The fruit of the plant is a cypsela. This is a small, dry seed. It has a pappus made of many barbed bristles, which helps the seeds spread.
Where Does Spiny Aster Live?
Chloracantha spinosa likes both dry places and moist spots. You can often find it growing along streambanks or near seeps, which are places where water slowly comes out of the ground. It can even grow in some types of salty soil.
Different Types of Spiny Aster
There are a few different types, or varieties, of Chloracantha spinosa:
- Chloracantha spinosa var. spinosa
- Chloracantha spinosa var. jaliscensis - Found in Jalisco and Nayarit in Mexico.
- Chloracantha spinosa var. spinosissima - Found in Baja California in Mexico.
- Chloracantha spinosa var. strictospinosa - Found in Chiapas and Michoacán in Mexico, and also in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama in Central America.
Images for kids
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A close-up of the spiny aster plant.
See also
In Spanish: Chloracantha para niños
