BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Acamptopappus sphaerocephalus | Rayless Goldenhead 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
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].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Phanerophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Little information is availbale 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.


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
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].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Facultative Seral Species

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].


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

Related categories for Species: Acamptopappus sphaerocephalus | Rayless Goldenhead