Woollyhead lessingia facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Woollyhead lessingia |
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Lessingia hololeuca is a type of flowering plant. It belongs to the daisy family. People often call it the woollyhead lessingia because it has a soft, woolly feel.
Where Does It Grow?
This plant is special because it grows only in California. This is called being "endemic." You can find it in different places around the San Francisco Bay Area. It also grows near the Sacramento Valley and in the California Coast Ranges. The woollyhead lessingia can live in many kinds of natural areas.
What Does It Look Like?
The woollyhead lessingia is an annual herb. This means it lives for only one year. It can be small and flat, just a few centimeters tall. Or, it can stand up straight, growing up to 40 centimeters high. Most of the plant feels soft and woolly.
Its lower leaves can be about 13 centimeters long. They might have deep cuts or "lobes" along their edges. The leaves higher up on the plant are much smaller. They do not have these deep cuts.
The plant's flower heads can grow alone. They can also grow in groups that are close together. Each flower head has a special cup-like base. This base is covered with woolly, purple-tipped leaves called phyllaries. The flower head itself is round and flat, like a disk. It does not have the long, petal-like parts you see on a typical daisy. Instead, it has many small, funnel-shaped flowers. These tiny flowers are pink, lavender, or purple. They have small lobes that look like petals.
After the flowers bloom, the plant makes a fruit. This fruit is a small, dry seed called an achene. It has a fluffy, white top made of bristles. This fluffy part is called a pappus. It helps the seed float away in the wind.
