Returned to a Southern Oregon mixed woodland hillside to re-photo a Forest Scurfpea and found this flower nearby. The flower may be past its prime but someone might be able to identify it. Also noted there was some California Harebells nearby.
I'm more tempted to think it is a plant that was flowering this past spring. Maybe something from the Madia-Anisocarpus-Hemizonella-Kyhosia complex. Trying to search for plants from these and other related genera in fruit is an exercise in frustration, as it seems Asteraceae in fruit is woefully underphotographed.
Hardly. The Madia and co. usually have thick green phyllaries wrapping around the outer florets, not easily convertible into such thin, flat, scarious remnants. This is more like Antennaria/Gnaphalium/Pseudognaphalium group: http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/i...ntains&where-taxon=Pseudognaphalium+canescens
I went back to the same location but couldn't find the same plant. However, I found some nearby that appear to be the same. The basal leaves may give a better clue to its identity. I forgot my ruler, but estimate this one is about 10" tall.
How about Antennaria argentea? Two specimens were collected on Mt. Sexton (Oregon Flora Project) which is about a mile away. I don't find photos that are exactly the same, but many are quite similar. Some other Antennaria?
Yes, that's what the Jepson Key produced, if we accept that it is without stolons. http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_key.pl?Antennaria
Thank you Andrey. My education continues. I believe stolons are runners that reproduce the plant. I looked and there are none. I also learned much from the link you provided. Antennaria in California is found between 800 and 2000 meters. The Antenarria I found is at 396 meters. I also learned that, because of a more northern latitude, my location is more consistent with the higher elevations in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The site has been marked and will be a Spring 2016 project to photo the actual flower.
You can also use these two sites to check on geography of your species. This allows to reduce the number of potential species significantly. http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=ANAR5 http://bonap.net/tdc (http://bonap.net/TDC/Image/Map?taxonType=Species&taxonId=2078&locationType=County&mapType=Normal)
