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Montana Field Guides

Slender Townsend-daisy - Townsendia leptotes

Status Under Review
Undetermined Origin

Global Rank: G4
State Rank: SU
(see State Rank Reason below)
C-value:


Agency Status
USFWS:
USFS:
BLM:


 

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State Rank Reason (see State Rank above)
Unresolved report for Montana. Original Tweedy collection noted from Madison Range, Yellowstone National Park. Beaman apparently interpreted this to refer to Madison Co., MT. Status in the state remains unconfirmed.
 
General Description
Slender Townsendia is a low perennial daisy which grows up to about 3 cm high and usually arises from a branched rootstock. Its leaves are green, narrow, linear to lance shaped, 0.6-4 cm long by 1-3 mm wide, and are sparsely covered by straight, stiff, appressed hairs. The flowers are borne in stemless or short-stemmed composite heads. The involucres consist of 4-7 overlapping series of narrow, pointed bracts. The strap-shaped corollas of the ray flowers are white, cream, pink, violet, or blue and are 6-10 mm long and 1-2 mm wide. The disk flowers have shorter, yellow, tubular corollas. Both ray and disk corollas are encircled by a pappus of slender bristles. The achenes are covered with hairs that are barbed at their tips.

Diagnostic Characteristics
Montana has nine Townsendia species. This species is distinguished from other stemless Townsendia by its green, only sparsely hairy leaves with narrow, pointed involucre bracts. The following Townsendia species have stems obscured by leaves and flowers, are perennial, and usually have a woody branched caudex, but can be separated by a combination of these characteristics:

Slender Townsend-daisyTownsendia leptotes, Status Under Review
*Leaves: Sparsely strigose (stiff, straight, sharp, and appressed hairs). Linear to oblong in shape, and 12-25 mm long.
*Flowers: Heads usually sessile. Involucre is 8-12 mm high. Ray florets have white to pinkish petals.
*Habitat: Rocky ridges and sandy slopes.

Sword TownsendiaTownsendia spathulata, SOC
*Leaves: Wooly to villous (long, soft, crooked, and unmatted hairs); Spoon-shaped except in Broadwater County where leaves are nearly linear. 5-10 mm long.
*Flowers: Heads are nearly stemless. Involucre is 6-10 mm high. Involucral bracts are villous and have acute tips except in Broadwater County where they are sparsely strigose. Ray florets have off-white or pinkish petals, 4-10 mm long.
*Habitat: Grows on limestone derived soils from low elevations to alpine.

Cushion Townsend-daisyTownsendia condensata, SOC
*Leaves: Villous, spoon-shaped, and 5-20 mm long.
*Flowers: Heads are nearly stemless. Involucre is 10-25 mm high. Ray florets have pink petals that dry to lavender, 6-15 mm long.
*Habitat: Found at and above timberline (subalpine/alpine).

Hooker’s Townsend-daisyTownsendia hookeri
*Leaves: Densely strigose. Linear to oblanceolate in shape, 5-30 mm long.
*Flowers: The involucre is 7-12 mm high. Involucral bracts have ciliate margins and are tipped with a tuft of hairs (cilia). Ray florets have white to pink petals.
*Habitat: Occurs in grasslands, sagebrush steppe, and woodlands at lower elevations.

Silky Townsend-daisyTownsendia exscapa
*Leaves: Strigose. Linear to oblanceolate in shape, 10-40 mm long.
*Flowers: The involucre is 12-20 mm high. Involucral bracts have ciliate margins and are not tipped with a tuft of hairs (cilia). Ray florets have white to pink petals.
*Habitat: Occurs in grasslands and sagebrush steppe at lower elevations.

Hoary Townsend-daisyTownsendia incana
*Leaves: Densely strigose. Linear in shape, 10-20 mm long.
*Flowers: Heads have peduncles of 3-40 mm long that grow from leafy stems of 1-3 cm long. The involucre is 6-9 mm high. Ray florets have pinkish petals.
*Fruits: Achenes are hairy.
*Habitat: Grows on sandy calcareous soil of grasslands, sagebrush steppe, and woodlands at lower elevations.

Wyoming Townsend-daisyTownsendia montana
*Leaves: Strigose. Leaves are oblong to spatulate in shape, 10-30 mm long.
*Flowers: Heads have peduncles of 3-40 mm long that grow from leafy stems of about 1 cm long. Involucre is 6-11 mm high. Ray florets have blue petals.
*Fruits: Achenes typically lack hairs (glabrous).
*Habitat: Grows on stony, usually calcareous soils of fellfields and meadows in the alpine-subalpine zone.

Range Comments
ID and MT south to WY, UT, NM, NV, and CA.

Habitat
Open, rocky or gravelly slopes in the alpine zone.

References
  • Additional ReferencesLegend:   View Online Publication
    Do you know of a citation we're missing?
    • Beaman, J.H. 1957. The Systematics and Evolution of Townsendia (Compositae). Contributions From the Gray Herbarium CLXXXIII: 1-151.
    • Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 771 p.
    • Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2022. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants, Second Edition. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 779 p.
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Citation for data on this website:
Slender Townsend-daisy — Townsendia leptotes.  Montana Field Guide.  .  Retrieved on , from