Montana Field Guide

Taprooted annual. Stems simple or branched at the base, erect, 8–40 cm. Leaves all basal or near-basal; the blades ovate to orbicular, 1–3 cm long, tomentose below, less so above. Inflorescence a diffuse, finely branched cyme with spreading to reflexed, ultimate branches; bracts scale-like; involucres 1–2 mm long, glabrous with 5 erect lobes. Flowers 1–2 mm long, white to pink, campanulate; tepals glabrous, the outer broader than the inner; stamens exserted. Achenes 1–2 mm long (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

Sandhills and sandy soil of grasslands, streambanks; plains (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

POLLINATORS
The following animal species have been reported as pollinators of this plant species or its genus where their geographic ranges overlap: Bombus bifarius, Bombus centralis, Bombus flavifrons, Bombus huntii, Bombus melanopygus, Bombus mixtus, Bombus ternarius, Bombus occidentalis, Bombus insularis, and Bombus flavidus (Thorp et al. 1983, Koch et al. 2012, Williams et al. 2014).