Asteraceae
Crassocephalum

Crassocephalum rubens (Juss. ex Jacq.) S.Moore

First published in J. Bot. 50: 212 (1912)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Africa, Arabian Peninsula. It is an annual and grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome.

Descriptions

Compositae, C. D. Adams. Flora of West Tropical Africa 2. 1963

Morphology General Habit
An erect branched herb
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Heads 1/2-2/3 in. long on rather long peduncles drooping in flower, erect in fruit
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Florets
Florets usually bright purple, but occasionally white, pink or blue
Ecology
A common weed of disturbed ground.
[FWTA]

Compositae, H. Beentje, C. Jeffrey & D.J.N. Hind. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2005

Morphology General Habit
Annual herb 20–150 cm tall, erect; stems green striate with purple, densely to sparsely pubescent or setulose.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves sessile, obovate, oblanceolate, elliptic or lanceolate, rarely ovate, unlobed or (especially the upper) lyrato-pinnately or pinnately 2–8-lobed, 1.2–20 cm long, 0.5–7.5 cm wide, cuneate or attenuate into an exauriculate petioloid base or (especially the upper) sessile, margins remotely sinuate-denticulate to coarsely sinuate-serrate, apex rounded to obtuse or acute, scattered-pubescent at least on veins beneath.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Capitulum
Capitula 1–8, long-stalked, usually at first nodding then ± erect, but sometimes erect throughout, discoid; stalks of the individual capitula ± pubescent and purplish-tinged; involucre cylindrical, 8–13 mm long, 2.5–8 mm in diameter; bract of calyculus 5–23, purplish or dark green with purple tips, lanceolate or narrowly lanceolate, 3–6(–8) mm long, glabrous or ciliate; phyllaries 13–25, commonly 21 or 13, pale green to green, often tinged purple especially towards the apex and purple-tipped, 7.5–12 mm long, glabrous or sparsely shortly pubescent.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Florets
Disc florets blue, purple or mauve, less often pink or red; corolla 6.2–10.5 mm long, tube glabrous, gradually expanded in upper third, lobes 0.4–1.5 mm long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Achenes 2–2.5 mm long, ribbed, hairy or shortly so in the grooves; pappus 7–12 mm long.
Habitat
Grassland or swampy to muddy sites in the woodland zone or woodland, but usually in disturbed situations such as waste ground or in cultivations; may be locally common; (1–)800–2500 m
Distribution
K2 K3 K4 K5 K6 K7 T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8
[FTEA]

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

    • Flora of Tropical East Africa
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Flora of West Tropical Africa

    • Flora of West Tropical Africa
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0