Striped cottonthorn facts for kids

Tetradymia argyraea is a type of flowering plant. It belongs to the aster family, which includes daisies and sunflowers. People often call it the striped cottonthorn or striped horsebrush.

This plant is found in the desert mountains of the southwestern United States. You can see it growing in places like California, Nevada, and Arizona. It likes to live in desert woodlands.

What is Striped Cottonthorn?

The striped cottonthorn is a shrub that can grow quite tall. It usually reaches about one-half meter to almost two meters high. That's like being as tall as a small car!

Its Unique Look

The stems of this plant are very interesting. They are covered in white, woolly hairs. But they also have bare stripes that show through. This gives the plant its "striped" name.

The leaves are long and thin. As they get older, they become hard and spiny. The bigger leaves are woolly, just like the stems. You might also see smaller, thread-like leaves that don't have any hair.

Flowers and Fruits

The striped cottonthorn produces its flowers in the summer. Sometimes, you can even see them blooming as late as September.

How the Flowers Look

The plant has groups of two to five flower heads. Each flower head is wrapped in five thick, woolly leaves called phyllaries. These phyllaries are also covered in white, woolly hairs.

Inside each head, there are five pale yellow flowers. Each flower is about one centimeter long.

What Happens After Flowering?

After the flowers bloom, they turn into fruit. The fruit is called an achene. It's only a few millimeters long. At the top of the achene, there's a fluffy part called a pappus. This pappus is made of bristles, which help the seeds fly away in the wind.