Thelesperma longipes

Thelesperma longipes
Conservation status
Apparently Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Asterales
Family:	Asteraceae
Genus:	Thelesperma
Species:	T. longipes
Binomial name
Thelesperma longipes A.Gray

Thelesperma longipes, commonly called the longstalk greenthread, is a perennial herb or subshrub in the Asteraceae family. It is found from Arizona to northeast Mexico.

Description

Thelesperma longipes is a perennial herb or subshrub that grows 20 to 40 cm (7.9 to 15.7 in) tall. The cauline leaves are "mostly crowded over proximal 1/4–1/2 of plant heights". The internodes are mostly 5 to 25 mm (0.20 to 0.98 in) long; the lobes are mostly linear to filiform, and are 5–45 × 0.5-1 mm. It flowers from March to October. There are 0 ray florets per flower head. The disc corollas are yellow, occasionally with red-brown nerves, the throats are equal to or longer than the lobes. The cypselae are 2-3 mm, and there are usually no pappi.

Distribution and habitat

Thelesperma longipes grows in the United States (Arizona, Texas, New Mexico) and in Mexico (Coahuila, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas) at elevations of 500 to 2100 meters from sea level on openings in desert scrub or limestone ridges.

Conservation

As of November 2024, NatureServe (a conservation group) listed Thelesperma longipes as Apparently Secure (G4) worldwide with a note that the global status needs to be reviewed (since the last review was in 1994)

Taxonomy

Thelesperma longipes was first named by Asa Gray in 1852 in the publication Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge. Washington, DC.