C. texana with eligulate floret style branches exerted.
[Click to enlarge.]		 C. carduacea with eligulate style branches barely visible.

Chaptalia texana & C. texana Eligulate Pistillate Florets
by Bob Harms  email-here

Eligulate pistillate florets have short two–lipped (3–) 3.5–5.5 (–6.5) mm tubular corollas (roughly less than half the length of the style), just wide enough to enclose the lower portion of the style which rises from the achene apex. The style branches at the very top; style branches c. 1.5–1.9 mm.

Prior to dispersal the structure of these florets is generally well concealed within the pappus bristles. For this reason, most measurements were from post–dispersal florets. No attempt was made to adjust for shrinkage of the dry florets.


eligulate florets of a well-developed C. carduacea type with visible ligules – type with ligules not visible


C. texana

C. carduacea type with visible ligules (pappus cut to show corolla)

C. carduacea type with ligules not visible

The percentage of inner eligulate florets was similar for the two species, as shown in the table below, constituting half to ca. 60% of total florets. But the two species differ in total number of inner eligulate florets, C. texana heads with 54—62 (and overall a greater number of all florets) and C. carduacea heads with 17—50, the lower number based on a single somewhat atypical head.
  percentage totals
C. texana 57–63% 54–62
C. carduacea 47–60% 17–50
Eligulate floret length of C. texana heads was on average 1.3 mm shorter than for C. carduacea heads:
  average length range
C. texana 9.2 mm 8.8–9.5 mm
C. carduacea 10.5 mm 9.9–11.2 mm
Perhaps the most striking difference for the two species is the difference in length of the corolla tube.
  average length range% of floret length*
C. texana 3.6 mm 3.1–3.8 mm 38%
C. carduacea with visible ligules 4.6 mm 3–6.2 mm 46.5%
C. carduacea with ligules not visible 5.2 mm 4.5–6.2 mm 52.5%
*based on average lengths

Two anomalous C. texana longer corollas were noted (shown below). The tube was over 4 mm, but most interesting were the two long lips of each floret, the longer lips, 1.7 & 1.8 mm; the shorter lips, 0.4 & 1.2 mm respectively; and each with a prominent tip similar to those occurring with the 5–lobed central florets. These have subsequently been interpreted as belonging to a separate floret type: peripheral long–tubular corollas.

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