Layia platyglossa
Encyclopedia
The annual wildflower Layia platyglossa is called coastal tidy tips. Tidy tips is found throughout California's low-elevation dry habitats, from the coast to the low foothills and desert edges, and into Nevada
, Utah
and Arizona
.
and is a member of spring wildflower blooms in meadows and grasslands. It grows during the months of March to June. The tidy tips are an annual, glandular, daisy like plant with narrow, rough hairy leaves. The lower leaves are generally lobed and the upper leaves are entire. The flower heads are composed of five to eighteen yellow ray flowers with white tips and many central yellow disk flowers. It is common in grassy places at low elevations in grassy slopes and openings in coastal sage scrub, grasslands and chaparral, coastal plains.
The roots are usually taproots, sometimes fibrous. Stems are usually erect, sometimes prostrate to ascending. Leaves usually alternate or opposite, and the blades are usually simple, rarely compound. The plant is an indeterminate zygomorphic inflorescent, individual heads are borne on a peduncle. The florets are bisexual, pistillate, functionally staminate or neuter. The sepals are highly modified. The fruits are usually dry with thick, tough pericarps, sometimes rostrate and/or winged. Dispersion is done by the help from pappi (dispersal of fruit by wind). Pollination is done by insects. Seeds are one per fruit, embryos straight.
The stems are prostrate or decumbent and are stout and corymbed branched. The plant is one to three diameters long. The leaves at the upper part of the stem are short and have a pilous texture. The leaves at the basal part of the stem can be dentate to pinnate
shaped with rotund short lobes. The bracts tips are rounded and involucre 6-12 mm high. The corolla is 4-6 mm long. The ray flowers are 3-3.8 mm long and the disk flowers are 2.8-5 mm long. The ligules are 6-15 mm long and 5-10 mm wide. The height of the entire plant is less than 1 foot, roughly around 1-3 diameters (4-12 inches).
ornamental plant
and ingredient in commercial wildflower seed mixes. It is used in habitat gardens and restoration projects also.
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
and Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
.
Description
Its outer ray flowers are bright golden yellow with distinct, sharp-margined white tips. It is native to CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and is a member of spring wildflower blooms in meadows and grasslands. It grows during the months of March to June. The tidy tips are an annual, glandular, daisy like plant with narrow, rough hairy leaves. The lower leaves are generally lobed and the upper leaves are entire. The flower heads are composed of five to eighteen yellow ray flowers with white tips and many central yellow disk flowers. It is common in grassy places at low elevations in grassy slopes and openings in coastal sage scrub, grasslands and chaparral, coastal plains.
The roots are usually taproots, sometimes fibrous. Stems are usually erect, sometimes prostrate to ascending. Leaves usually alternate or opposite, and the blades are usually simple, rarely compound. The plant is an indeterminate zygomorphic inflorescent, individual heads are borne on a peduncle. The florets are bisexual, pistillate, functionally staminate or neuter. The sepals are highly modified. The fruits are usually dry with thick, tough pericarps, sometimes rostrate and/or winged. Dispersion is done by the help from pappi (dispersal of fruit by wind). Pollination is done by insects. Seeds are one per fruit, embryos straight.
The stems are prostrate or decumbent and are stout and corymbed branched. The plant is one to three diameters long. The leaves at the upper part of the stem are short and have a pilous texture. The leaves at the basal part of the stem can be dentate to pinnate
shaped with rotund short lobes. The bracts tips are rounded and involucre 6-12 mm high. The corolla is 4-6 mm long. The ray flowers are 3-3.8 mm long and the disk flowers are 2.8-5 mm long. The ligules are 6-15 mm long and 5-10 mm wide. The height of the entire plant is less than 1 foot, roughly around 1-3 diameters (4-12 inches).
Cultivation
Its daisy-like flowers are attractive, making it a popular gardenGarden
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials. The most common form today is known as a residential garden, but the term garden has...
ornamental plant
Ornamental plant
Ornamental plants are plants that are grown for decorative purposes in gardens and landscape design projects, as house plants, for cut flowers and specimen display...
and ingredient in commercial wildflower seed mixes. It is used in habitat gardens and restoration projects also.