Laphamia quinqueflora (Five-Flower Rockdaisy)

Laphamia quinqueflora (Five-Flower Rockdaisy)

Photograph by Patrick Alexander at polyploid.net (2009)
Family
ASTERACEAE
Scientific Name with Author
Perityle quinqueflora (Steyermark) Shinners
Synonyms
LAPHAMIA QUINQUEFLORA STEYERMARK; PAPPOTHRIX QUINQUEFLORA (STEYERMARK) EVERLY
Common Name
Five-Flower Rockdaisy
Agency Status
USFWS State of NM USFS BLM Navajo Nation State Rank Global Rank R-E-D Code NMRPTC Status Strategy Status
S3 G4 2-1-2 R SS
Rare Plant Conservation Scorecard Summary
Overall Conservation Status Documented Threats Actions Needed
UNDER CONSERVED

No Information

Status surveys on abundance, distribution and threats
County Map
Counties
Description
Tufted perennial from a woody base; stems to 30 cm tall; leaves opposite in lower portion, becoming alternate above, the blades 15-25 mm long, 8-20mm wide, thickened and leathery, broadly triangular to kidney-shaped, somewhat toothed to very shallowly lobed on the margins; flower heads cylindrical, in open clusters, rayless, 7-9 mm high; involucral bracts five or six, appearing as a single series; disk florets yellow, 5-6(8); pappus of 25-30 unequal bristles at the summit of the flattened achene. Flowers April to October.
Similar Species
This species grades into Perityle rupestris, which occurs in eastern Jeff Davis County, Texas. Perityle quinqueflora can be distinguished by its more fleshy leaves and its five-flowered heads.
Distribution
New Mexico, Eddy County; Texas, Culberson, Hudspeth, Presidio, and western Jeff Davis counties.
Habitat
Crevices of limestone (rarely igneous) bluffs, cliffs in high canyons and caprock, 1,530-1,830 m (5,000-6,000 ft).
Remarks
This species is unique owing to its relative rarity, striking appearance, and restricted habitat.
Conservation Considerations
Relatively inaccessible habitats provide a large degree of protection for this species.
Important Literature

*New Mexico Native Plants Protection Advisory Committee. 1984. A handbook of rare and endemic plants of New Mexico. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.

Everly, M.L. 1947. A taxonomic study of the genus Perityle and related genera. Contributions from the Dudley Herbarium of Stanford University 3:377-396.

Niles, W.E. 1970. Taxonomic investigations in the genera Perityle and Laphamia (Compositae). Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden 21:l-82.

*Powell, A.M. 1969. Taxonomy of Perityle section Pappothrix (Compositae: Peritylanae). Rhodora 71:58-93.

Shinners, L.H. 1959. Species of Lapharnia transferred to Perityle (Compositae: Helenieae). Southwestern Naturalist 4:204-206.

Information Compiled By
Yvonne Chauvin 1999

For distribution maps and more information, visit Natural Heritage New Mexico