Owl's claws facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Owl's claws |
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Hymenoxys
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H. hoopesii
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| Hymenoxys hoopesii (A.Gray) Bierner 1994
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Hymenoxys hoopesii is a type of flowering plant. It is also known by fun names like owl's claws or orange sneezeweed. This plant belongs to the daisy family, which includes many familiar flowers.
You can find Hymenoxys hoopesii growing naturally in the western parts of the United States. It likes to live in places that are not too high up, like mountain meadows. These areas include the Rocky Mountains, the Sierra Nevada, and the southern Cascade Range. This plant has been seen from Arizona and New Mexico all the way north to Montana and Oregon. It also grows in central California.
What Hymenoxys hoopesii Looks Like
This plant is a tall, upright perennial herb. This means it lives for more than two years. It can grow to be almost a meter (about 40 inches) tall. Its leaves are smooth and have different shapes. The leaves near the bottom of the stem are oval. The leaves higher up are more pointed, like a spear.
Its Beautiful Flowers
The plant produces several flower heads. These flower heads grow on straight stems called peduncles. Each flower head has a base made of hairy, pointed leaf-like parts called phyllaries.
The center of each flower head is packed with many tiny disc flowers. There can be anywhere from 100 to 325 of these small flowers. Around the edge, there are 14 to 26 bright orange or yellow ray flowers. Each of these ray flowers can be up to 3.5 centimeters (about 1.4 inches) long.
Seeds and Life Cycle
After the flowers bloom, the plant produces its fruit. The fruit is a small, dry seed called an achene. This achene has a special feathery or scaly top called a pappus. This pappus helps the seed to spread, often by wind.
