Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 17, 2026

Xanthisma gracile

Xanthisma gracile is a species of annual flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names slender goldenweed and annual bristleweed.

Last revised
Jul 17, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
328 w
Citations
7
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Xanthisma gracile
Secure
Secure (NatureServe)1
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Embryophytes
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Spermatophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Xanthisma
Species:
X. gracile
Binomial name
Xanthisma gracile
(Nutt.) D.R.Morgan & R.L.Hartm.
Synonyms2
  • Aster dieteria Kuntze
  • Dieteria gracilis Nutt.
  • Eriocarpum gracile (Nutt.) Greene
  • Haplopappus gracilis (Nutt.) A.Gray
  • Haplopappus ravenii R.C.Jacks.
  • Machaeranthera gracilis (Nutt.) Shinners
  • Sideranthus gracilis (Nutt.) A.Nelson

Xanthisma gracile3 is a species of annual flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names slender goldenweed4 and annual bristleweed.5

Range and habitat

It is native the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, where it grows in the deserts and plateaus.

Growth pattern

It is a bristly annual herb growing erect up to 45 cm tall.

Leaves and stems

The oval or oblong leaves are 1–3 cm long and divided into lobes or teeth tipped with bristles.

Flowers and fruit

The inflorescence bears one or more flower heads lined with pointed, roughly hairy phyllaries. The head has a center of many yellow disc florets and a fringe of 16 to 18 yellow ray florets roughly a centimeter long. The fruit is a woolly achene 2 to 3 millimeters long tipped with a pappus.

Genetics

Xanthisma gracile has extra chromosomes that do not have any functional genes (B chromosomes), and about which little is known.5 Its chromosome count is given as 2n=4 by Munz and Keck.6

References

References

  1. NatureServe (3 January 2025). "Xanthisma gracile | NatureServe Explorer". NatureServe Explorer. Arlington, Virginia. Retrieved 10 January 2025.
  2. "Xanthisma gracile". Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  3. Mojave Desert Wildflowers, Pam MacKay, 2nd Ed. p. 314
  4. NRCS. "Machaeranthera gracilis". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  5. Mojave Desert Wildflowers, Pam MacKay, 2nd Ed. 2013, p. 218
  6. Munz, Philip A.; Keck, David D. (1959). A California Flora. Berkeley, Calif.: Univ. of Calif. Press. p. 1174.
External links