Common name:
Arrow weed
Family:
Scientific name:
Pluchea sericea
Main flower color:
Range:
South California, eastwards to far west Texas
Height:
Between 3 and 15 feet
Habitat:
Moist locations; streamways, canyons, beside springs
Leaves:
Alternate, entire, lanceolate to linear, up to 1.5 inches long
Season:
March to June
Pluchea sericea is a medium to large-sized evergreen shrub, leafy and freely branching, inhabiting moist locations in desert regions, from California to west Texas. Plants often grow together, forming extensive colonies. Stems and leaves have a covering of smooth, silky, non-glandular hairs, lying against the surface. Leaves grow all along the stems, at closely-spaced, alternate intervals.
Flowerheads are produced in dense clusters at the top of the stems. The involucre is ringed by several series of differently-shaped phyllaries, all relatively broad, mostly green but often reddish around the edges and tips. The upper phyllaries are somewhat narrower. The flowerhead has a group of pistillate florets, which have five tiny lobes around a protruding pistil, and a smaller number of disc florets. Both types of floret are deep pink in color.
Flowerheads are produced in dense clusters at the top of the stems. The involucre is ringed by several series of differently-shaped phyllaries, all relatively broad, mostly green but often reddish around the edges and tips. The upper phyllaries are somewhat narrower. The flowerhead has a group of pistillate florets, which have five tiny lobes around a protruding pistil, and a smaller number of disc florets. Both types of floret are deep pink in color.
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