• NSF NEON | Open Data to Understand our Ecosystems
  • Biorepository Data Portal

  • Home
  • Search
    • Sample search
    • Map search
    • Dynamic Species List
    • Taxonomic Explorer
  • Images
    • Image Browser
    • Image Search
  • Datasets
    • Research Datasets and Special Collections
    • Checklist: Research Sites - Invertebrates
    • Checklist: Research Sites - Plants
    • Checklist: Research Sites - Vertebrates
  • Sample Use
    • Sample Use Policy
    • Sample Request
    • Sample Archival Request
    • Data Usage Policy
  • Additional Information
    • Tutorials and Help
    • Biorepository Staff
    • About NEON
    • NEON Data Portal
    • ASU Biocollections
    • About Symbiota
  • Getting Started
Login New Account Sitemap
Acourtia nana (A. Gray) Reveal & R.M. King  

No occurrences found

Family: Asteraceae
dwarf desertpeony
[Perezia nana Gray]
Acourtia nana image
Max Licher
  • FNA
  • Field Guide
  • Resources
Beryl B. Simpson in Flora of North America (vol. 19, 20 and 21)
Plants 2.5-30 cm, (divaricately branching). Leaves cauline; sessile; blades rhombic-orbiculate to suborbiculate, 10-50 mm, bases cuneate, margins coarsely and irregularly prickly-dentate, faces glabrous (reticulate). Heads borne singly (at branch tips). Involucres campanulate, 14-17 mm. Phyllaries in 4 series, broadly ovate, margins glandular, apices acute to mucronate, abaxial faces glabrous. Receptacles reticulate (sockets separated by squarish, apically pubescent paleae 1 mm). Florets 15-24; corollas lavender-pink or white, 10-17 mm. Cypselae subcylindric, 3-7.5 mm, densely stipitate-glandular; pappi white or tawny, 10-15 mm. 2n = 54. Flowering (Mar-)Apr(-Jun). Gravel, sandstone, silty, or caliche soils in desert scrub; 0-1800 m; Ariz., N.Mex., Tex.; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, Sonora, Zacatecas). Acourtia nana grows primarily in the trans-Pecos and western Edwards Plateau.

McDougall 1973, Kearny and Peebles 1979, FNA 2006
Duration: Perennial Nativity: Native Lifeform: Forb/Herb General: Small erect perennial herb, 5-30 cm tall, from a woody, platform-like rhizome covered with thick brown tomentum, 1-5 cm below the soil surface and bearing tough woody roots 1-2 mm in diameter from its lower side. Leaves: Opposite, sessile or short-petioled, leathery, pale green, suborbicular, 2-5 cm long, coarsely and unequally spinulose-dentate, scaberulous, with veins conspicuous on both surfaces. Flowers: Flower heads solitary at ends of branches, subsessile or on stoutish peduncles 4-10 mm long; involucre (bracts surrounding the flower heads) campanulate, 1.5 cm high, the bracts in 4-5 series, imbricate, broadly ovate and abruptly attenuate to the tip, often purplish, the margins lanate-ciliate below; flowers fragrant, all bisexual, 15-24 per head, the corollas bilabiate with 2 lobes on one side and 3 lobes on the other side, pink, 1-1.5 cm long, glabrous. Fruits: Achenes linear, 5-6 mm long, strongly ribbed, with a pappus of numerous slender silky hairs, 10-15 mm long, silvery white to tawny. Ecology: Found on mesas, arid plains, and slopes, usually under shrubs; below 6,000 ft (1829 m); flowers March-June. Distribution: AZ, s NM, sw TX; south to c MEX. Notes: The genus Acourtia in our region is distinguished by being erect perennial composites with woolly bases of brownish-bronze hairs; leathery, sessile or clasping leaves with toothed margins, the teeth often with prickles; and often showy heads with pink, purple or white flowers. A. nana is distinct from other Acourtia in the region by its small stature and grayish-green, leathery, holly-like, roundish prickly leaves which clasp the stems. The flowers are fragrant, the scent reminiscent of violets. Ethnobotany: Cottonlike material at root base placed on a newborn-s umbilicus. Etymology: Acourtia is named for Mary Elizabeth Catherine Gibbes A-Court (1792-1878), while nana is from Greek nannos, dwarf. Synonyms: Perezia nana Editor: SBuckley 2010, FSCoburn 2014, AHazelton 2015
Acourtia nana
Open Interactive Map
Acourtia nana image
Max Licher
Acourtia nana image
Max Licher
Acourtia nana image
Patrick Alexander
Acourtia nana image
Liz Makings
Acourtia nana image
Patrick Alexander
Acourtia nana image
Acourtia nana image
Click to Display
8 Total Images
NSF NEON | Open Data to Understand our Ecosystems The National Ecological Observatory Network is a major facility fully funded by the National Science Foundation. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.