Rayless Goldenhead

The two varieties were mapped as geographically intermingling in southern California (M. A. Lane 1988). Considerable variation in expression of vestiture occurs in the area where the hirtellous-leaved plants grow and identifications should be recognized as arbitrary.

Leaf faces glabrous or hirtellous. Heads in loose, corymbiform arrays. Involucres hemispheric to globose, 7–10 mm wide. Rays 0.

Haplopappus sphaerocephalus Harvey & A. Gray, Mem. Amer. Acad. Arts, n. s. 4: 76. 1849 (as Aplopappus)

rayless goldenhead

More info for the terms: achene, cyme, fruit, shrub

Rayless goldenhead is a native shrub. Generally it is less than 3.3
feet (1 m) tall. The stems are much branched with white bark; the bark
becomes shreddy with age. The leaves are alternate, entire, and
spatulate. Flowerheads are yellow, discoid, and arranged in a cyme.
The fruit is an achene [7,10,16,20].

Rayless goldenhead occurs in desert regions of the southwestern United
States [7,10,20]. In the Mojave Desert it occurs in northwestern
Arizona, southeastern California, and southwestern Nevada. It is also
found in the southern reaches of the Great Basin Desert in north-central
Arizona, western Colorado, northwestern New Mexico, southeastern Nevada,
and southern Utah [2,7,10,14].

More info for the terms: fire regime, seed

Since rayless goldenhead seed is dormant and species distribution is
clumped, rayless goldenhead probably establishes from on-site,
soil-stored seed. There is no information available on rayless
goldenhead fire survivorship or postfire regeneration.

FIRE REGIMES :
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this
species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under
"Find FIRE REGIMES".

No information was available on this topic as of 1991.

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More info for the term: phanerophyte

Phanerophyte

Rayless goldenhead occupies open, sandy to rocky bajadas, washes,
limestone ridges, dry plains, and mesas [7,12]. Its distribution is
clumped [3].

Soil: Rayless goldenhead is found in Alfisol, Aridisol, and Mollisol
soil types [17].

Elevation: Rayless goldenhead grows at elevations of 1,000 to 4,500
feet (305-1,370 m) in Arizona [7] and 200 to 7,260 feet (60-2,200 m) in
California [20].

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This species is known to occur in association with the following cover types (as classified by the Society of American Foresters):

68 Mesquite
239 Pinyon - juniper
242 Mesquite

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This species is known to occur in the following ecosystem types (as named by the U.S. Forest Service in their Forest and Range Ecosystem [FRES] Type classification):

More info for the term: shrub

FRES30 Desert shrub
FRES33 Southwestern shrubsteppe
FRES35 Pinyon - juniper
FRES40 Desert grasslands

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This species is known to occur in association with the following plant community types (as classified by Küchler 1964):

More info for the term: woodland

K023 Juniper - pinyon woodland
K039 Blackbrush
K040 Saltbush - greasewood
K041 Creosotebush
K042 Creosotebush - bursage
K057 Galleta - threeawn shrubsteppe

Sheep browse rayless goldenhead when better forage is unavailable [7,15].

More info for the term: tree

Rayless goldenhead may be associated with catclaw acacia (Acacia
greggii), California juniper (Juniperus californica), scrub oak (Quercus
turbinella), Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia), California buckwheat
(Eriogonum fasciculatum), golden cholla (Opuntia echinocarpa), and
Mojave yucca (Y. schidigera) [2,3].

More info for the term: shrub

Shrub

More info for the terms: cover, shrub

Browsing may significantly reduce the mean cover and mean shrub height of
rayless goldenhead. Heavy browsing is more detrimental than light
browsing [15].

AZ CA CO NV NM UT

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Rayless goldenhead flowers from April to June in California [10] and
April to October in Arizona [7].

More info for the term: cyme

Little information is available on rayless goldenhead reproduction. All
the cyme flowers are fertile [16]; however, Young and Young [18]
reported "only limited germination at low incubation temperatures."
Seeds collected in Riverside County, California, and germinated in a
greenhouse showed "poor to good germination." Outplanted seedlings
showed a 41 percent success rate after 2 or 3 years [22]. Sprouting
capacity of this species is unknown.

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This species can be found in the following regions of the western United States (according to the Bureau of Land Management classification of Physiographic Regions of the western United States):

4 Sierra Mountains
6 Upper Basin and Range
7 Lower Basin and Range
12 Colorado Plateau

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More info for the term: climax

Rayless goldenhead exhibited no distinct successional pattern on
disturbed sites in the Mohave Desert. It is considered a short to
moderately long-lived species that may occur in disturbed to climax
creosotebush (Larrea tridentata) communities [14,21]. In some cases,
rayless goldenhead populations may increase rapidly when long-lived
species such as creosotebush, ragweed (Ambrosia dumosa), and Nevada
ephedra (Ephedra nevadensis) are reduced by disturbance [21].

Aplopappus sphaerocephalus Harvey & Gray

The currently accepted scientific name of rayless goldenhead is
Acamptopappus sphaerocephalus (Harv. & Gray) Gray (Asteraceae)
[7,10,20]. There are two recognized varieties: Acamptopappus
sphaerocephalus var. sphaerocephalus and A. s. var. hirtellus Blake [10].