Putnam Park Wildflowers


Flower ID: IMG_1680.JPG-06-09-2024
Flower name (scientific): Lapsana communis Linnaeus PY: 1753. Pronunciation guide: (phonetic spelling) lap-SAH-nuh KOM-yoo-nis
Flower name (common): Nipplewort
Family name (common): Aster
Family name (scientific): Asteraceae
Scientific name origin:
     Genus: From the Greek lapsanae meaning vegetable, in some sources called a weed, referred to by Dioscorides.
    Specific epithet: Latin communis meaning common, refers to its widespread occurrence. Also, in some sources indicated to mean mixed together, mingled.
Common name origin: This name was introduced by the apothecary, herbalist, and botanist John Parkinson (1567–1650) in 1640. "It is good to heale the Vlcers of the nipples of womens breasts, and thereupon I have entituled it Nipplewort in English." Source OED.
Flower description:
     Size: 0.2 to 0.5 inches (5 to 13 mm)
     Petal count: typically 8 to 20 ray florets. There are no disc florets.
     Color: yellow
     Other: flower arrangement, Panicle
Plant description:
     Size: 12 to 60 inches (30 to 152 cm)
     Stem hairy: sparsely to moderately hairy.
     Other:
Leaf description: attachment is alternate, type is simple and lobed. Leaves are sessile or nearly so, or have short to long winged petioles. Margin typically has widely spaced teeth.
     Size: typically up to 15 cm in length and may reach up to 30 cm, and usually up to 7 to 10 cm wide.
     Color: medium green
     Hairy: both surfaces sparsely to moderately hairy.
     Other: Shape: leaf, lower broadly ovate, upper usually lanceolate or elliptic (IL)
Origin (native, introduced, invasive): Introduced
Status (common, uncommon, threatened, rare): Common
Bloom time (typical): June to September
Cycle (annual, biennial, perennial): Annual
Habitat: Disturbed sites, waste areas, roadsides, woods, fields, streambanks, moist, semi shade to shade.
Fruit: Achenes about 3 to 5 mm in length.
Seed: Light brown to yellow brown.
Importance to wildlife:
Similar species (if any): No close lookalikes. The leaves and fruits (when present) help to differentiate this species from some of the other species having yellow flowers with a similar number of ray florets.
Ethnobotany:
Latitude: 44.799453
Longitude: -91.505177
Altitude: 242.10
Distribution: In Wisconsin: (Ashland, Bayfield, Brown, Dane, Dodge, Door, Eau Claire, Fond du Lac, Forest, Iowa, Iron, Juneau, Kenosha, Lafayette, Milwaukee, Oconto, Oneida, Price, Richland, Rock, Sauk, Sawyer, Sheboygan, Vilas, Walworth) Click here for distribution map
In US: (AK, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, GA, HI, IA, ID, IL, IN, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MT, NC, ND, NJ, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV) Click here for distribution map
In Canada: (AB, BC, MB, NB, NF, NS, ON, PE, QC, SK) Click here for distribution map
References:
Synonym(s):
Basionym: na
Homotypic Synonym(s): POWO lists 1 homotypic synonym for this species.
Heterotypic Synonym(s): na
Autonym: Lapsana communis subsp. communis (The other infraspecifics are Lapsana communis subsp. adenophora (Boissier) Karl Heinz Rechinger, Lapsana communis subsp. alpina (Boissier & Balansa) Peter Derek Sell, Lapsana communis var. aurantia Yıldırımlı, Lapsana communis subsp. grandiflora (Bieberstein) Peter Derek Sell, Lapsana communis subsp. intermedia (Bieberstein) Hayek, Lapsana communis subsp. macrocarpa (Cosson) Nyman, Lapsana communis subsp. pinnatisecta (Sommier & Levier) Greuter, Lapsana communis subsp. pisidica (Boissier & Theodor Heldreich) Karl Heinz Rechinger. None of these eight infraspecifics have been recorded from North America.)
Wetland Status (NC): FACU
Wetland Status (MW): FACU