Composite # 7
Conyza schimperi ?
Observed in a pasture used for cattle. Many of the plants were present and were about 1½ m tall. Eldoret, Kenya. January 2012.
This composite was found in an animal pasture. The inflorescence consists of
numerous, closely spaced small heads.
- Disc Flowers: The disc flowers are pale yellow and number less than 8. The heads are about 5mm in diameter.
- Ray Flowers: The ray flowers are absent.
- Phyllaries: There are several series in the many phyllaries subtending the florets. Peduncles and phyllaries are pubescent.
- Pappus: fine, cappilary bristles top each seed. At maturity the head breaks apart revealing dense clumps of cottony fluff.
- Leaves: The leaves are once or twice divided into narrow, linear segments. The color is grayish-green due to short pubescence.
These plants sometimes are host to a green aphid that are then attended to by ants in a manner suggesting the way humans keep dairy cattle.
