Brickellia pedunculosa

Brickellia pedunculosa
Brickellia pedunculosa in habitat
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Embryophytes
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Brickellia
Species:
B. pedunculosa
Binomial name
Brickellia pedunculosa
(DC.) Harc. & Beaman
Synonyms[1]
  • Bulbostylis pedunculosa DC.
  • Eupatorium pedunculosum DC.) A.Gray
  • Phanerostylis pedunculosa (DC.) R.M.King & H.Rob.
  • Eupatorium longipes A.Gray

Brickellia pedunculosa, with no commonly used English name, is a species of herbaceous plant native only to Mexico. It belongs to the family Asteraceae.[2]

Discription

Here are distinctive field marks of Brickellia pedunculosa:[3] [4]

  • Several slender, hairy stems arise from thickened, woody caudices which are up to 50 cm (20 in) long and tend to bend outward. Stems are little branched above their bases.
  • Leaves with short, reddish petioles arise either singly or in pairs along stems. Thickish blades to about 1.5 cm (5⁄8 in) long and 7 mm (1⁄4 in) wide usually are broadest below their middles and have margins which may or may not develop one or two teeth on each side. The blades' upper and lower surfaces are a little hairy and bear abundant, very small resinous globules. Usually smaller secondary leaves arise at the bases of the main leaves.
  • Floral heads about 1.5 cm (5⁄8 in) tall and up 1 cm (3⁄8 in) wide contain about 30-40 "disc florets" with white, cylindrical corollas approximately 9 mm (3⁄8 in) long. As images on this page show, two slender, somewhat flattened, white style branches may emerge from corollas attracting more attention than the corollas themselves. Below the florets, 5–7 series of involucral bracts of different heights are green with reddish hues and each bears 2-4 prominent nerves.
  • One-seeded, cypsela-type fruits about 6 mm (1⁄4 in) long are topped with pappuses consisting of white bristles nearly as long as the corollas.

Distribution

Brickellia pedunculosa is endemic to Mexico, from the northern states of Durango, Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas south into the states of Michoacán, México and Veracruz.[5]

Habitat

In highland central Mexico Brickellia pedunculosa occurs in forests with oaks and pines at elevations of 2,600–2,900 m (8,500–9,500 ft).[3]

Taxonomy

In 1836 when Augustin Pyrame de Candolle formally described Brickellia pedunculosa using the basionym Bulbostylis pedunculosa, he remarked that his type specimen came from near "Villapando" in Mexico.[6] De Candolle collaborated with Alexander von Humboldt, who with other scientists shared specimens collected on his exploratory American Expedition of 1799-1804.[7] It is known that Humboldt collected plants "between Moran and Villalpando" (not de Candolle's "Villapando"), in the Mexican state of Guanajuato, at an elevation of 2,340–2,520 m (7,680–8,270 ft).[8]

Phylogeny

On the basis of morphology and chromosome number (n=9), Brickellia pedunculosa appears to be a relatively primitive member of the genus. The species's chromosomes are the largest of the genus, in phylogenetics a trait regarded as primitive.[4]

Etymology

The genus name Brickellia honors John Brickell (1748–1809), an Irish-born physician and naturalist who settled in the USA.[9]

The species name pedunculosa derives from the Latin pedunculosus meaning "bearing a peduncle",[10] of which Brickellia pedunculosa can produce some long ones.

References

  1. ↑ "Brickellia pedunculosa (DC.) Harc. & Beaman". catalogueoflife.org. Catalogue of Life. June 19, 2026. Retrieved July 5, 2026.
  2. ↑ "Brickellia pedunculosa (DC.) Harc. & Beaman". Plants of the World Online. United Kingdom: Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. 2026. Retrieved July 4, 2026.
  3. 1 2 Rzedowski, G.C. de; Rzedowski, J. y colaboradores (2005). Flora fanerogámica del Valle de México (treated as Eupatorium longipes) (PDF) (in Spanish) (2nd, online ed.). Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, México: Instituto de Ecología, A.C. y Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad. p. 795.
  4. 1 2 Harcombe, P.A.; Beaman, J.H. (August 4, 1967). "Transfer of Two Mexican Species from Eupatorium to Brickellia (Compositae)". The Southwestern Naturalist. 12 (2). Southwestern Association of Naturalists: 127–133. Retrieved July 5, 2026.
  5. ↑ Villaseñor, José Luis (August 4, 2016). "Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico". Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad. 87. Mexico City: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Retrieved July 5, 2026.
  6. ↑ Candolle, Augustin Pyramus de (1836). Prodromus systematis naturalis regni vegetabilis, sive, Enumeratio contracta ordinum generum specierumque plantarum huc usque cognitarium, juxta methodi naturalis, normas digesta (in Latin). Vol. 5. Sumptibus Sociorum Treuttel et Würtz. pp. 138–139.
  7. ↑ Wood, John R.I. (2010). "Book Review: Alexander Von Humboldt and the Botanical Exploration of the Americas by H. Walter Lack". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 162. London, United Kingdom: The Linnean Society: 628–630. Retrieved July 6, 2026.
  8. ↑ "untitled species description". New York Botanical Garden. Retrieved July 6, 2026.
  9. ↑ Scott, Randall W. "Brickellia Elliott. In Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA)". St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA, USA: New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press via eFloras.org. Retrieved July 6, 2026.
  10. ↑ "Chromolaena pedunculosa King & Robinson 1980". sibils.org. Switzerland: Swiss Institute of Bioinformataics Literature Services. Retrieved July 6, 2026.
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