5. Krigia virginica (L.) Willd. (Virginia dwarf dandelion)
Pl. 257 a, b;
Map 1076
Plants annual,
with fibrous roots. Stems (see discussion below) 1 to numerous, 4–35 cm long,
erect or ascending, rarely from a spreading base, unbranched or rarely
few-branched from below the midpoint, sparsely to moderately pubescent with
spreading, gland-tipped hairs, especially toward the tip. Leaves basal and
rarely also 1–4 toward the stem base (see discussion below), sessile or with a
short to long, often winged petiole. Leaf blades 0.4–18.0 cm long, linear to
lanceolate, oblanceolate or broadly ovate to broadly obovate, entire, toothed,
or shallowly to deeply pinnately lobed, the teeth or lobes broadly triangular
and pointed, the leaf tip rounded to sharply pointed, the surfaces glabrous or
the undersurface (and margins) sometimes sparsely pubescent with short,
spreading hairs, these often gland-tipped, sometimes glaucous. Involucral
bracts 8–14, 4–7 mm long, narrowly lanceolate to narrowly oblong-lanceolate,
flat (not keeled), glabrous, withering and becoming reflexed with age. Ligulate
florets 14–35. Corollas 4–12 mm long, yellow to less commonly yellowish orange,
those of the outer florets sometimes purplish-tinged on the outer surface.
Pappus of 5 bristles and 5 short, inconspicuous scales, the bristles 4–6 mm
long, white or nearly so to very light tan or pale straw-colored, the scales
0.5–1.0 mm long, broadly oblong with an irregularly truncate to bluntly angled
tip, somewhat transparent, white to light brown (especially toward the base).
Fruits 1.5–2.2 mm long, somewhat obconical, 4- or 5-angled in cross-section,
with 15–18 blunt ribs, these microscopically roughened or barbed, reddish brown
to dark brown. 2n=10, 20. April–August.
Scattered,
mostly south of the Missouri River (eastern U.S. west to Wisconsin, Kansas, and
Texas; Canada). Glades, sand prairies, swales in upland prairies, tops and
exposed ledges of bluffs, and openings of mesic to dry upland forests; also
fallow fields, old fields, roadsides, and open, disturbed areas.
Steyermark
(1963) suggested that this plant is an attractive addition rock gardens with
acidic soils and noted that it reseeds itself. Shinners (1947) noted that
although this species is annual, on some occasions a second growth form is
produced after flowering has finished and the original basal rosette leaves
have withered. This secondary phase, which is quite rare in Missouri, has erect
or strongly ascending stems from a sometimes few-branched, spreading to loosely
ascending base that appear somewhat longer than the primary stems. It can
produce 1–4 slender or short stem leaves toward the stem base that are
alternate or sometimes nearly opposite. The heads produced during this
supplementary cycle are usually smaller than those that form earlier in the
year and have somewhat fewer florets, flowering from late May to late August in
Missouri and even later farther south.