Stephanomeria parryi
Encyclopedia
Stephanomeria parryi is a species of flowering plant in the aster 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 name Parry's wirelettuce. It is native to the southwestern United States, where it grows in many types of habitat, including many desert areas. It is a perennial herb growing from a thick root and producing one or more slender, upright stems up to about 40 centimeters tall. The green leaves are linear to lance-shaped with lobed edges and are up to 8 centimeters long near the base of the plant. Flower heads
Head (botany)
The capitulum is considered the most derived form of inflorescence. Flower heads found outside Asteraceae show lesser degrees of specialization....

 occur on the spreading branches. Each has up to 13 or 14 ray florets, each with an elongated tube and a whitish ligule up to 1.5 centimeters long. The fruit is an achene
Achene
An achene is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate and indehiscent...

 tipped with a spreading cluster of long, tan, plumelike pappus bristles
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...

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