Silky raillardella facts for kids
Raillardella argentea is a type of flowering plant often called the silky raillardella. It belongs to the aster family, which includes many well-known flowers like sunflowers and daisies. This plant is special because it has soft, silky hairs on its leaves.
Quick facts for kids Silky raillardella |
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R. argentea
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| Raillardella argentea (A.Gray) A.Gray
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Contents
Silky Raillardella: A Unique Mountain Plant
Where Silky Raillardella Lives
This plant naturally grows in the Sierra Nevada mountains. These mountains are found in California. You can also find it in nearby mountain ranges. Its home stretches east into Nevada. It also goes north along the Cascade Range and Klamath Mountains into Oregon.
Silky raillardella likes to grow in dry, open mountain areas. It can be found in many different types of these habitats.
What Silky Raillardella Looks Like
The silky raillardella is a perennial herb. This means it lives for many years. It spreads using underground stems called rhizomes. It grows in a clump. At the bottom, it has a group of leaves that form a circle, like a rosette.
The leaves are shaped like a spear point. They can grow up to 8 centimeters long. These leaves are covered in soft, silky hairs. This is how the plant gets its common name, "silky raillardella."
The Flower and Its Structure
The plant grows a flower stalk, also known as an inflorescence. This stalk can reach about 15 centimeters tall. At the top of the stalk, there is usually one single flower head. This head is shaped like a cylinder or a bell.
The flower head is covered by fused outer scales. These scales protect the flowers inside. They look a bit like the phyllaries found on other flower heads. Inside the head, you will find many small yellow flowers. These are called disc florets. Each disc floret can be up to a centimeter long. Unlike some other aster family plants, this flower head does not have any ray florets. Ray florets are the petal-like parts you see on a daisy.
Reproduction and Seeds
After the flower blooms, it produces a fruit. This fruit is long and narrow. It is called an achene. The achene can be up to 2 centimeters long. It has a special feathery top called a pappus. This pappus helps the fruit float in the wind. This allows the seeds to travel far away from the parent plant. This is how the silky raillardella spreads its seeds and grows in new places.
