Launaea cornuta (Hochst. ex Oliv. & Hiern) C.Jeffrey

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

Morphology General Habit

Annual or perennial herb, erect, 0.2–1.5 m high; rootstock often thick, fleshy and long; stem hollow, much-branched, often slightly succulent, glabrous, with milky juice.

Morphology Leaves

Leaves often glaucous, sessile, lanceolate to linear and sometimes pinnatilobed, 2–25 cm long, 0.3–4 cm wide (or up to 9 cm wide including the lobes), base attenuate to short-sagittate, margins entire to dentate, lobes (when present) in the proximal part of the leaf, narrowly triangular and 0.5–5 cm long, leaf and lobe apices acute, glabrous.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Capitulum

Capitula many, in lax panicles; stalks of individual capitula 2–25 mm long, sometimes pilose; involucre 7–10 mm long, cylindric to spreading; phyllaries green, often with purplish streak or apex, extending down the stalk, ovate to lanceolate, 2–10 mm long, acute or obtuse, often scattered-pilose, usually with a single glandular seta near the apex.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Florets

Florets 10–25 per capitulum; corolla yellow or pale lemon yellow (rarely described as whitish), the outer ones with ligule with thin or broad purple or red streak(s), tube 3–4 mm long, ligule 6–8 mm long, 1.5–2.2 mm wide.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Achenes pale brown, fusiform or narrowly obovoid, 2.5–4 mm long, many-ribbed with muricate ribs; pappus of white setae 4.5–6 mm long.

Habitat

Grasslands, and an important weed of cultivation and ruderal sites; 1–1800(–2300) m

Distribution

K1 K3 K4 K5 K6 K7 P T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7

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

M. Thulin et al. Flora of Somalia, Vol. 1-4 [updated 2008] https://plants.jstor.org/collection/FLOS

Morphology General Habit

Perennial, dark glaucous, basally woody herb to 100(–150) cm high, often growing in groups; stems hollow, leafy

Morphology Leaves

Leaves dark glaucous above, greyish green below, variable in shape and size, 2–25 x 0.5–8 cm; lower leaves obovate or oblanceolate to lanceolate, tapering into a narrow base, sinuate-dentate to deeply pinnatifid; upper leaves smaller and narrower, with ± auriculate base

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences

Capitula with 15–27 florets; involucre 8–11 mm long at anthesis, up to 13 mm in fruit, often ± floury of minute bladder-like hairs (lens!); phyllaries often with scattered stipitate glands and with horn-like glands below the tip Synflorescences ± divaricately branched, with many capitula; peduncles often with stipitate glands

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Florets

Florets pale yellow, ligules 9–11 mm long, anthers usually blackish yellow, 2.9–3.3 mm long (appendages excluded)

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Achenes 2.6–4.3 mm long, sharply wrinkled, pale brown, all with 5 main ribs; pappus 5–7 mm long, deciduous, of uniform bristles.

Distribution

N1; C1, 2; S1–3 widespread from Ethiopia, Djibouti, Eritrea and S Sudan westwards to E Nigeria and southwards to Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

Ecology

Altitude range 0–1100 m.

Vernacular

Ana-ararsce, bun shugaar, burdab, kab la´raar, kable, wanshigaar (Somali).

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

Morphology General Habit

An erect perennial herb with glaucous stems up to about 4 ft. high

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla

Ligules of florets pale yellow, reddish outside.