Dieteria canescens

Dieteria canescens (formerly Machaeranthera canescens)^[2] is an annual plant or short lived perennial plant in the family Asteraceae, known by the common names hoary tansyaster and hoary-aster.^[3]

Dieteria canescens
Conservation status
Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Asterales
Family:	Asteraceae
Genus:	Dieteria
Species:	D. canescens
Binomial name
Dieteria canescens (Pursh) A.Gray
Synonyms[1]
Synonymy Aster biennis Nutt. Aster canescens Pursh Aster glossophyllus Piper Aster leiodes S.F.Blake Dieteria divaricata Nutt. Dieteria pulverulenta Nutt. Dieteria viscosa Nutt. Machaeranthera angustifolia Rydb. Machaeranthera divaricata (Nutt.) Greene Machaeranthera glabella Greene ex Rydb. Machaeranthera laetevirens Greene Machaeranthera latifolia A.Nelson Machaeranthera leptophylla Rydb. Machaeranthera linearis Rydb. 1900, not Greene 1897 Machaeranthera montana Greene Machaeranthera paniculata A.Nelson Machaeranthera pinosa Elmer Machaeranthera pulverulenta (Nutt.) Greene Machaeranthera ramosa A.Nelson Machaeranthera selbyi Rydb. Machaeranthera spinulosa (Greene) Cory Machaeranthera subalpina Greene Machaeranthera superba A.Nelson Machaeranthera viscosa (Nutt.) Greene Machaeranthera angustifolia Wooton & Standl. 1913, not Rydb. 1910, syn of var. ambigua Machaeranthera oxylepis Greene, syn of var. ambigua Machaeranthera scoparia Greene, syn of var. ambigua Machaeranthera cichoriacea, syn of var. aristata Machaeranthera rigida Greene, syn of var. aristata Aster linearis (Greene) Cory, syn of var. glabra Machaeranthera linearis Greene, syn of var. glabra Aster attenuatus (Howell) Frye & Rigg, syn of var. incana Aster attenuatus (Howell) M.Peck, syn of var. incana Dieteria incana (Lindl.) Torr. & A.Gray, syn of var. incana Diplopappus incanus Lindl., syn of var. incana Machaeranthera attenuata Howell, syn of var. incana Machaeranthera incana (Lindl.) Greene, syn of var. leucanthemifolia Aster leucanthemifolius Greene, syn of var. leucanthemifolia Machaeranthera hiemalis A.Nelson, syn of var. leucanthemifolia Machaeranthera leucanthemifolia (Greene) Greene, syn of var. leucanthemifolia Dieteria sessiliflora Nutt., syn of var. sessiliflora Machaeranthera magna A.Nelson, syn of var. sessiliflora Machaeranthera sessiliflora (Nutt.) Greene, syn of var. sessiliflora Aster eradiatus (A.Gray) Frye & Rigg, syn of var. shastensis Aster inornatus Greene Synonym, syn of var. shastensis Aster shastensis (A.Gray) A.Gray, syn of var. shastensis Machaeranthera eradiata (A.Gray) Howell, syn of var. shastensis Machaeranthera inops A.Nelson & J.F.Macbr., syn of var. shastensis Machaeranthera inornata (Greene) Greene, syn of var. shastensis Machaeranthera shastensis A.Gray, syn of var. shastensis

"Canescens" means "gray-hairy".^[4]

Range and habitat

Dieteria canescens is native to western and central North America, from the Pacific Coast to the Western part of the Great Plains, from British Columbia south to California, Sonora, and Chihuahua, east to Saskatchewan, the Dakotas, and Oklahoma, with a few isolated populations in Iowa and Minnesota.^[5]

Growth pattern

Dieteria canescens is a woolly-haired, glandular annual or perennial herb with one or more branching stems sometimes exceeding 100 cm (39 in) in height.^[6]

Leaves and stems

The linear to oblong leaves may reach 10 centimetres (3.9 inches) long near the base of the stems, their edges usually serrated or toothed.

The stems are glandular with short hairs.^[3][6]

Flowers and fruits

The inflorescence bears one or more flower heads lined with several layers of pointed, curling or curving phyllaries. The head has a center of many yellow disc florets and a fringe of blue or purple ray florets each 1 to 2 centimeters long. The fruit is an achene around 3 millimeters in length tipped with a pappus of long hairs.^[6]

A number of insects can often be found in the flowers.^[3]

Uses

The Zuni people take an infusion the whole plant of subspecies canescens, variety canescens and rub it on the abdomen as an emetic.^[7]

Varieties^[1][6]

• Dieteria canescens var. ambigua (B.L.Turner) D.R.Morgan & R.L.Hartm. – Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico
• Dieteria canescens var. aristata (Eastw.) D.R.Morgan & R.L.Hartm. – Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah
• Dieteria canescens var. canescens – Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan; Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming
• Dieteria canescens var. glabra (A.Gray) D.R.Morgan & R.L.Hartm. – Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Texas, Wyoming, Chihuahua
• Dieteria canescens var. incana (Lindl.) D.R.Morgan & R.L.Hartm. – Nebraska, South Dakota
• Dieteria canescens var. leucanthemifolia (Greene) D.R.Morgan & R.L.Hartm. – California, Nevada, Utah
• Dieteria canescens var. nebraskana (B.L.Turner) D.R.Morgan & R.L.Hartm. – Nebraska, South Dakota
• Dieteria canescens var. sessiliflora (Nutt.) D.R.Morgan & R.L.Hartm. – Idaho
• Dieteria canescens var. shastensis (A.Gray) D.R.Morgan & R.L.Hartm. – California, Nevada, Oregon
• Dieteria canescens var. ziegleri (Munz) D.R.Morgan & R.L.Hartm. – Santa Rosa Mountains in Riverside County in California