San Diego wirelettuce facts for kids
Quick facts for kids San Diego wirelettuce |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| (unranked): | |
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| Order: | |
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| Tribe: |
Cichorieae
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| Subtribe: |
Microseridinae
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| Genus: |
Stephanomeria
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| Species: |
S. diegensis
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| Binomial name | |
| Stephanomeria diegensis Gottlieb
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The San Diego wirelettuce (Stephanomeria diegensis) is a fascinating flowering plant. It belongs to the aster family, which includes many well-known flowers like sunflowers and daisies. This plant is special because it's a mix of two other plants, making it a natural hybrid. You can find it growing in the sunny coastal areas of southern California and Baja California. It likes to grow in open spaces.
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Discovering the San Diego Wirelettuce
What Makes It Special?
The San Diego wirelettuce is quite unique! It's a hybrid plant, meaning it formed from two different parent plants: Stephanomeria exigua and S. virgata. This kind of natural mixing, called "hybrid speciation," is not very common in the plant world.
Sometimes, people might confuse the San Diego wirelettuce with its parent plants. This can happen, especially if they are using older guides to identify plants.
What It Looks Like
This plant is an annual herb, which means it grows, flowers, and dies within one year. It can grow very tall, often reaching over two meters (that's more than 6 feet!). It has a thin stem with many branches that spread out.
Leaves and Stems
When the plant is young, it has long, narrow leaves at its base. These leaves can be up to 10 centimeters (about 4 inches) long. However, these leaves usually dry up and fall off early in the year. For most of the year, the plant looks like a collection of thin twigs because it has very few leaves. The leaves higher up on the stem are much smaller.
Flowers and Seeds
The flowers of the San Diego wirelettuce usually grow in small groups along its stiff branches. Each flower cluster has a tube-shaped base. This base is covered with small, leaf-like parts called phyllaries, which are often sticky.
Inside each cluster, there are several small flowers called ray florets. Each of these has a long tube and a white or pink-colored petal-like part. This petal-like part is about one centimeter long. After the flowers bloom, the plant produces small, grooved fruits. Each fruit has a fluffy top made of long, feathery bristles. These bristles help the seeds float away in the wind, spreading the plant to new places.
