Chondrilla juncea L.
Family: Asteraceae, Tribe: Chicorieae
Pertinent Synonyms & Notes (particularly those used in California; go to GRIN for other synonyms)
none
Pertinent Common Names (particularly those used in California; go to GRIN for other common names)
skeletonweed
Primary Disseminule Type
fruit (sometimes with beak & pappus missing)
Description (diagnostics are in brown)
Fruit a cypsela. Cypsela body narrowly oblong to oblanceolate, tapered at both ends, cross-section ± terete, 3–4 mm long x 0.5–0.7 mm diameter. Surface glabrous, dull, straw-colored to dark brown, longitudinally ribbed (ribs with antrorse tubercles distally). Apex strongly beaked (beak slender, 4–6 mm long, tip expanded). Pappus of many fine, white bristles 5–7 mm long, persistent.
Style base cylindrical, whitish, sitting on a mound surrounded by a collar 0.3–0.4 mm across.
Fruit attachment scar basal, same color as rest of fruit body, a 5-lobed cup-like structure.
Similar Species
Similar Species Comparison Chart
Risk Assessment (codes in yellow or red indicate cause for concern; assessments are current as of mid-2011; click AUQP, NZBORIC, or NZBPI for access to the most recent versions of these databases and possible assessment changes)
AUQP, AUWP, NZWP, NZBORIC, NZBPI