Bahia dissecta
Encyclopedia
Bahia dissecta is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family
Asteraceae
The Asteraceae or Compositae , is an exceedingly large and widespread family of vascular plants. The group has more than 22,750 currently accepted species, spread across 1620 genera and 12 subfamilies...
known by the common names (ragleaf) bahia and yellow ragweed. It is native to the southwestern United States as far north as Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
, as well as northern Mexico. It can be found in several habitat types, from dry mountain slopes to roadsides. This is an annual or biennial herb producing a spindly, branching, erect stem variable in height from 20 centimeters to well over one meter. The stems are reddish and generally glandular. The small leaves are mostly located toward the base of the stem and are finely divided into linear lobes. The spreading inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
produces several flower heads
Head (botany)
The capitulum is considered the most derived form of inflorescence. Flower heads found outside Asteraceae show lesser degrees of specialization....
, each lined with hairy, glandular phyllaries
Bract
In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis, or cone scale. Bracts are often different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of a different color, shape, or texture...
. Each head has a fringe of rounded yellow ray florets about half a centimeter long and a center of yellow disc florets. The fruit is a dark-colored achene
Achene
An achene is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate and indehiscent...
3 or 4 millimeters long. If there is any pappus
Pappus (flower structure)
The pappus is the modified calyx, the part of an individual disk, ray or ligule floret surrounding the base of the corolla, in flower heads of the plant family Asteraceae. The pappus may be composed of bristles , awns, scales, or may be absent. In some species, the pappus is too small to see...
it is small and scale-like.