Common names:
Mariola, New Mexico rubber plant
Family:
Scientific name:
Parthenium incanum
Main flower color:
Range:
All states between Nevada and Texas
Height:
Up to 3 feet
Habitat:
Plains, scrubland, grassland, in desert areas, from 2,000 to 6,000 feet
Leaves:
Obovate to ovate, usually with broad, irregular lobes. Tomentose hairy
Season:
April to November
Parthenium incanum is a small, much branched shrub, forming clusters several feet high and wide, and bearing somewhat inconspicuous flowerheads during spring and summer. It inhabits desert areas, favoring limestone soils. Leaf surfaces have a dense covering of light grey, tomentose hairs, and are dotted with tiny glands. Leaves are usually lobed; a terminal lobe and three, five or seven lateral lobes.
Flowerheads, around a third of an inch in diameter, are formed of five relatively broad, notched, white (pistillate) ray florets, equally spaced around a center of between 10 and 25 white staminate disc florets. Phyllaries are in two series of five, the lower oval-shaped, the upper more rounded. Flowerheads are borne in compact clusters (glomerules).
Flowerheads, around a third of an inch in diameter, are formed of five relatively broad, notched, white (pistillate) ray florets, equally spaced around a center of between 10 and 25 white staminate disc florets. Phyllaries are in two series of five, the lower oval-shaped, the upper more rounded. Flowerheads are borne in compact clusters (glomerules).
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