Chaptalia texana & C. carduacea Long–tubular Pistillate Florets
by Bob Harms
| date | total florets | (a) peripheral | (a) nonperipheral | (b) interpreted as ... | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| reduced ligulate | long– tubular | short– tubular | long– tubular | short– tubular | peripheral | non– peripheral |
||
| 4-Nov | 31 | (head bimorphic) | 1 | 24 | 1 | 24 | ||
| 14-Nov | 93 | 0 | 10 | 28 | 1 | 40 | 11 | 68 |
| 17-Nov | 75 | 0 | 19 | 10 | 0 | 34 | 19 | 44 |
| 18-Nov | 107 | 0 | 16 | 17 | 1 | 57 | 17 | 74 |
| 4-Dec | 103 | 0 | 18 | 18 | 3 | 51 | 21 | 69 |
In the above table the high number of short–tubular florets tallied with the peripheral set stemmed from the difficulty of removing precisely the peripheral florets for the count, where florets for the two adjacent floret rows could only be distinguished after separation. The large number of florets per head made the separation more difficult. On the other hand the large number of inner pistillate florets in general did not include adjacent long–tubular florets.
| date | total florets | (a) peripheral | (a) nonperipheral | (b) interpreted as ... | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| reduced ligulate | long– tubular | short– tubular | long– tubular | short– tubular | peripheral | non– peripheral |
||
| 14-Nov | 155 | 28 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 91 | 22 | 57 |
| 28-Nov | 95 | 0 | 16 | 5 | 1 | 52 | 28 | 66 |
| 3-Dec | 115 | 0 | 28 | 3 | 2 | 63 | 32 | 65 |
| 3-Dec | 120 | 0 | 30 | 6 | 2 | 59 | 36 | 95 |
Comparison of images of long–tubular florets for both species would seem to indicate that they are somewhat different for the two species, but also show considerable variation within each species. It was often difficult to decide whether the lip of a floret constituted a highly reduced ligule, far smaller than the expected reduced ligules of early spring types. Most were clearly two–lipped — in contrast with the one–lipped ligulate florets. The lipps were often quite elongated, especially with C. texana, which additionally had swollen tips, very similar to the tips of the lobes of the central florets.
C. texana long–tubular florets
May 4, 2010
October 17, 2010
October 20, 2010
October 20, 2010
December 4, 2010