Askellia pygmaea

Askellia pygmaea, the dwarf alpine hawksbeard,^[2] is a species of Asian and North American plants in the tribe Cichorieae within the family Asteraceae.

Askellia pygmaea
Conservation status
Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Asterales
Family:	Asteraceae
Genus:	Askellia
Species:	A. pygmaea
Binomial name
Askellia pygmaea (Ledeb.)Sennikov
Synonyms[1]
Askellia nana (Richardson) W.A.Weber Barkhausia nana (Richardson) DC. Crepis cochlearifolia Fisch. ex Herder Crepis nana Richardson Hieracioides nanum (Richardson) Kuntze Prenanthes pygmaea Ledeb. Youngia nana (Richardson) Rydb. Youngia pygmaea (Ledeb.) Ledeb.

Distribution

It is native to western, northern, and eastern Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, British Columbia, Alberta, Nunavut, Quebec, Labrador, Newfoundland), the western United States (Alaska, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, California), Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, and western China (Tibet + Xinjiang).^[3][4]

Description

Askellia pygmaea is a perennial up to 20 cm (8 inches) tall, with a deep taproot and spreading by means of underground rhizomes thus forming dense clumps. Stems are sometimes erect, but sometimes trailing along the ground. One plant can have more than 80 small flower heads, each with 9-12 yellow ray florets but no disc florets.^[5][4]