Trixis californica

Trixis californica
	In Palm Canyon, California
Conservation status
	; Secure (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Asterales
Family:	Asteraceae
Genus:	Trixis
Species:	T. californica
Binomial name
	Trixis californica; Kellogg

Trixis californica, the American threefold^[1] or American trixis, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to North America.

Description

Trixis californica is a sprawling shrub or subshrub growing up to 90 centimetres (35 in) tall.^[2] The leaves are lance-shaped (lanceolate), dark green, 2–5 cm long,^[2] and 0.5–3 cm wide. The inflorescence is terminal, usually a panicle or corymb, but sometimes the heads are borne singly at the tips of branches. The flower heads are 2 cm across^[2] and have about 15 bright yellow flowers each.

Distribution and habitat

It is native to the southwestern United States in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, and in northern Mexico^[2] in the states of Baja California, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Nuevo León, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tamaulipas, and Zacatecas.

This species occurs from sea level to 1,500 metres (5,000 ft) in elevation. Its habitat types include rocky hillsides, thorn scrub, and desert washes and brush. In the western Sonoran Desert it is exclusive to washes and only grows amongst other plants. In the Colorado Desert it grows in creosote scrub. It grows in scrub in the Yuma Desert, east of the Colorado River. Though it usually flowers between February and October,^[2] it may bloom nearly year-round depending on winter weather conditions.

Uses

The leaves of this species were smoked for pleasure by the Seri of Mexico.^[3] Other uses include administration as an aid to childbirth.^[4]

Images

Form
In flower
Flower heads (var. californica)

References

^ NRCS. "Trixis californica". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 14 December 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Spellenberg, Richard (2001) [1979]. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers: Western Region (rev ed.). Knopf. p. 405. ISBN 978-0-375-40233-3.
^ Felger, Richard Stephen (2016). People of the desert and sea : ethnobotany of the Seri Indians. Moser, Mary Beck. (Century Collection ed.). Tucson, Arizona. ISBN 978-0-8165-3475-3. OCLC 961922305.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ "Other Representative Genera in the Composite Family". www.desertmuseum.org. Retrieved 2020-12-06.

Anderson, C. 1972. A monograph of the Mexican and Central American species of Trixis (Compositae). Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden 22(3): 1–68.
C. M. Hogan, ed. 2010. Trixis californica . Encyclopedia of Life.

External links

Media related to Trixis californica at Wikimedia Commons
Trixis californica treatment. The Jepson Manual.
Trixis californica. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
Trixis californica. Northern Arizona Flora.
Trixis californica photo gallery. CalPhotos.

[1] NRCS. "Trixis californica". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 14 December 2015.

[auduflo-2] Spellenberg, Richard (2001) [1979]. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers: Western Region (rev ed.). Knopf. p. 405. ISBN 978-0-375-40233-3.

[3] Felger, Richard Stephen (2016). People of the desert and sea : ethnobotany of the Seri Indians. Moser, Mary Beck. (Century Collection ed.). Tucson, Arizona. ISBN 978-0-8165-3475-3. OCLC 961922305.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

[4] "Other Representative Genera in the Composite Family". www.desertmuseum.org. Retrieved 2020-12-06.

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