Xylorhiza tortifolia

Xylorhiza tortifolia is a species of flowering plant in the aster family, known by the common names Mojave-aster and Mojave woodyaster.[3]

Xylorhiza tortifolia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
(unranked):
Angiosperms
(unranked):
Eudicots
(unranked):
Asterids
Order:
Asterales
Family:
Asteraceae
Tribe:
Astereae
Genus:
Xylorhiza
Species:
X. tortifolia
Binomial name
Xylorhiza tortifolia
Synonyms
  • Aster abatus S.F.Blake[1]
  • Aster mohavensis J.M.Coult.[2]
  • Aster orcuttii
  • Machaeranthera orcuttii

Distribution

The flowering plant is native to the Mojave Desert, Sonoran Desert, and Great Basin Desert ecoregions of the southwestern United States, California, and northwestern Mexico.[4]

It grows in arid canyons and bajadas/washes, from 240–2,000 metres (790–6,560 ft) in elevation. Habitats it is found in include creosote bush scrub, saltbush scrub, and Joshua tree woodlands.[3]

Description

Xylorhiza tortifolia is a perennial herb or subshrub with branching, hairy, glandular stems that reach 60–80 centimetres (24–31 in) in height/length. The leaves are linear, lance-shaped, or oval, with pointed or spiny tips and spiny edges. The leaf surfaces are hairy and glandular.

The inflorescence is a solitary flower head borne on a long peduncle. The head has a base with long, narrow phyllaries which may be over 2 centimeters long. The head contains up to 60 or more lavender, pale blue, or white ray florets which may be over 3 centimeters long. The bloom period is March through June.[3]

The fruit is an achene which may be over a centimeter long, including its pappus of bristles.

Varieties
  • Xylorhiza tortifolia var. imberbis — Imberis woodyaster, Great Basin region in Nevada, Utah, Arizona.[5]
  • Xylorhiza tortifolia var. parashantensis — Parashant woodyaster, endemic to Arizona.[6]
  • Xylorhiza tortifolia var. tortifolia — Mojave aster, Mojave woodyaster, a variety primarily native to the higher/winter colder Mojave Desert, and Owens Valley of the Great Basin region, from 240–2,000 metres (790–6,560 ft) in elevation.[7][8]

Taxonomy

Desert species of this aster with a woody base (Xylorhiza means woody base) are classified under the genus Xylorhiza, and have been removed from the large and complex genus Machaeranthera, where they were placed for many decades.[9] A similar species, Xylorhiza wrightii−Big Bend aster, is native to the Chihuahuan Desert in western Texas and northern Mexico.[9]

Uses

The Havasupai used the plant for incense and fragrance, with ground leaves carried in the clothes and used as perfume by men and women to counteract body odors.[10]

References
  1. Blake, p. 556, 562.
  2. Coulter, p. 126.
  3. Calflora: Xylorhiza tortifolia
  4. Flora of North America − Xylorhiza tortifolia
  5. USDA: Xylorhiza tortifolia var. imberbis
  6. USDA: Xylorhiza tortifolia var. parashantensis
  7. Calflora: Xylorhiza tortifolia var. tortifolia
  8. Jepson eFlora: Xylorhiza tortifolia var. tortifolia
  9. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Native Plant Information Network−NPIN: Xylorhiza cognata (Mojave aster, Mojave woodyaster)
  10. Native American Ethnobotany Database: Xylorhiza tortifolia var. tortifolia

Bibliography
  • Blake, Sidney Fay (1925). Contributions from the United States National Herbarium. 25. Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.
  • Coulter, John Merle (1893). Contributions from the United States National Herbarium. 4. Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.
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