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Published In: Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 2(1): 114–115. 1821. (J. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia) Name publication detailView in BotanicusView in Biodiversity Heritage Library
 

Project Name Data (Last Modified On 8/11/2017)
Acceptance : Accepted
Project Data     (Last Modified On 7/9/2009)
Status: Native

 

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5. Coreopsis tinctoria Nutt. (plains coreopsis, calliopsis)

C. tinctoria var. similis (F.E. Boynton) H.M. Parker ex E.B. Sm.

C. cardaminifolia (DC.) Torr. & A. Gray

Pl. 275 e; Map 1164

Plants usually annual, with taproots. Stems (10–)40–120 cm long, glabrous. Leaves distributed at (5)6–12 nodes along 2/3 or more of the length of the stems, sessile or short-petiolate. Leaf blades 1.5–10.0 cm long, oblong to elliptic or obovate in outline, 1 or 2 times pinnately dissected, the mostly 5–25 ultimate segments 1–4 mm wide, narrowly linear to linear-lanceolate, usually somewhat tapered at the base and tip, the surfaces glabrous. Inflorescences mostly appearing as panicles, the heads with the stalk mostly 2–5 cm long. Involucre often reddish-tinged, the outer series of bracts 1–4 mm long; the inner series of bracts 4–9 mm long. Chaffy bracts linear, not widened at the base or tip. Ray florets with the corolla 12–20 mm long, with 3(4) deep, sometimes irregular (appearing rounded or less commonly somewhat jagged) teeth or lobes around the tip, yellow with a well-differentiated region of reddish brown to brownish purple toward the base. Disc florets with the corollas 2.5–3.5 mm long, mostly 4-lobed, reddish purple, sometimes with a yellow tube. Style branches with a short, bluntly pointed, sterile tip. Pappus absent or of 1 or 2 teeth or awns to 1.5 mm long. Fruits 1.5–3.0 mm long, the base and tip appearing curled or arched inward at maturity, the angles usually with narrow to broad, pale wings having entire to slightly irregular margins, the inner face slightly thickened at 1 or both ends, dark brown to black, 1 or both surfaces usually with numerous small, lighter-colored tubercles. 2n=24. June–September.

Scattered, mostly south of the Missouri River (U.S., Canada, Mexico). Glades and banks of streams and rivers; also ditches, old fields, railroads, roadsides, and open, disturbed areas.

The native range of this species has been obscured by its natural spread along disturbance corridors such as highways and railroads and also its escape from cultivation in gardens. Some authors have suggested that its original range included at least the southern Great Plains and Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana (Barkley, 1986; Gleason and Cronquist, 1991).

Steyermark (1963), in the appendix to his manual, added C. cardaminifolia based on a collection made by Viktor Mühlenbach in the St. Louis railyards. Smith and Parker (1971) studied the relationship of this taxon to C. tinctoria, noting the presence of additional material attributable to C. tinctoria and intermediate specimens from Missouri, but they concluded that there was no taxonomic or genetic basis for maintaining two species in the complex. Missouri plants appear to be relatively uniform in having the basal 1/4–1/2 of the corolla reddish brown to brownish purple. Elsewhere in the range of the species, a number of variants occur with ray corollas ranging from entirely yellow (f. tinctoria) to entirely reddish (f. atropurpurea (Hook.) Fernald). Native Americans derived a dark red dye from the heads of this species. It was also used medicinally as a tonic and for treatment of venereal diseases (Moerman, 1998).

 


 

 
 
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