Indian blanket (The Flora and Fauna of Palo Duro Canyon)

Indian blanket

Gaillardia pulchella

Summary ⁵

Gaillardia pulchella (firewheel, Indian blanket, Indian blanketflower, or sundance), is a North American species of short-lived perennial or annual flowering plants in the sunflower family.

Description ⁵

The branching stem of Gaillardia pulchella is hairy and upright, growing to 60 cm (2 ft) tall. The leaves are alternate, mostly basal, 4–8 cm long, with edges smooth to coarsely toothed or lobed. It has a hairy stem, simple or branched near the base, where the leaves are essentially located towards the bottom of the plant.

The pinwheel, daisy-like inflorescences are 4–6 cm in diameter, vividly colored with red, orange and yellow and is surrounded by 10 to 20 fleurons ligulate three lobes. The central disc florets of the flower head tend to be more red-violet, with the outer ray florets being yellow. In one variety, almost the entire flower is red, with only the barest tips of the petals touched with yellow. It blooms practically year-round in some areas, but more typically in summer to early fall.

The fruit is an achene, almost pyramidal, hairy, and prolonged by a pappus 5 to 8 mm in length.

Distribution ⁵

It is native to northern Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Sonora, Tamaulipas) and the southern and central United States from Arizona east to Florida and the Carolinas and north as far as Nebraska. It is also naturalized in scattered locations in other parts of the United States as well as in Québec, Ontario, China, South Africa, and parts of South and Central America. The plant generally lives in the sandy plains and deserts of the south of the North American continent. It is common along the roads and prefers sandy soils. It can also grow on vacant lots in urban areas, but generally below 1000 meters above sea level.

It is the state wildflower of Oklahoma. The flower has also been introduced to the Penghu Islands in Taiwan, where it is the County Flower of Penghu County. It is called "天人菊" ("Tianren Daisy") in Chinese.

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Indian blanket

Summary 5

Description 5

Distribution 5