Growth Form:Forb/herb; herbaceous; plants upright (erect), with single stem and multiple branches in upper sections.
Leaves: Green; leaves up to 4 inches (10 cm) long; mostly lanceolate; leaf edges or margins typically without teeth or with small teeth; leaf surfaces sticky or viscid or resinous.
Flower Color: Yellow, golden yellow; showy flower daisy-like flower heads; floral heads with both ray and diskflorets; bracts surrounding floral heads mostly linear; fruit a cypsela.
Flowering Season: July or August to October
Elevation: 1,000 to 5,500 feet (304-1,676 m)
Habitat Preferences: Upland desert areas such oak or pine woodlands, grasslands, often in wet areas, meadows, stream bottoms, arroyos, ditches and alluvial or saline soils.
Recorded Range:Xanthocephalum gymnospermoides is rare in the United States although locally common where it is found only in AZ, TX. It is also native to northern Mexico in Sonora, Chihuahua and Sinaloa. In the southwestern United States it is found primarily in southeast Arizona in Santa Cruz County with a small population in Texas.
Genus Information: In North America there is 1 species and 1 accepted taxa overall for Xanthocephalum. Worldwide, The Plant List includes 7 accepted species names and a further 5 scientific names of infraspecific rank for Xanthocephalum.
The genus Xanthocephalum was published in 1807 by Carl Ludwig Willdenow, (1765-1812).
Comments:Xanthocephalum gymnospermoides is rare in the United States where it is found only in limited distribution mostly in Arizona with smaller populations in Texas. There is a possibility that San Pedro Matchweed may also be found in southern New Mexico. The photos above are plants in Santa Cruz County, Arizona.
The type species for Xanthocephalum gymnospermoides is from between Babocomari, Arizona, and Santa Cruz, Sonora (Wright 1177)
Importance to Wildlife, Birds and Livestock
San Pedro Matchweed, Xanthocephalum gymnospermoides attractive yellow daisy-like flowers, the flowers, their seeds and plants may be visited by hummingbirds and/or small mammals including rodents and granivorous birds in search of food, nectar and protection through cover.
Beneficial Value to Butterflies, Honey Bees and Insects
San Pedro Matchweed, Xanthocephalum gymnospermoides attractive yellow daisy-like flowers, the flowers and their plants may be visited or used by butterflies, moths, flies, honeybees, native bees and other insects in search of nectar, food or shelter and protection.
Etymology:
The genus “Xanthocephalum” Xantho is a Latin derivative meaning yellow and cephalo from the Greek “kephale”, meaning head; a reference to the showy yellow flower heads.
The genus Xanthocephalum was published in 1807 by Carl Ludwig Willdenow, (1765-1812).
The species epithet “gymnospermoides” (gymnos:) from the Greek gymnos, meaning "naked," and -sperma meaning “seed”.
