Sommerfeltia spinulosa (Spreng.) Lessing

Echeverría, María L., Alonso, Sara I. & Comparatore, Viviana M., 2017, Survey of the vascular plants of Sierra Chica, the untouched area of the Paititi Natural Reserve (southeastern Tandilia mountain range, Buenos Aires province, Argentina), Check List 13 (6), pp. 1003-1036 : 1025

Sommerfeltia spinulosa (Spreng.) Lessing

Figure 32

Sommerfeltia spinulosa (Spreng.) Lessing (1832) : 190 — Cabrera (1963): 98; Zuloaga et al. (2014a): 240; Tropicos (2017).

Conyza spinulosa Sprengel (1826) : 510.

Chamaephytes; endemic to mountain ranges of Buenos Aires province. Least Concern ( Delucchi 2006).

Characteristics. Shrub with many branches, to 40 cm tall, with pinnatisect, spiniform and rigid leaves, 1–2.5 cm long. Capitulum radiate, bell-shaped, 7 mm long, with white ray outer florets and yellow tubular disc florets. Achenes with glandular and pubescent surface, 3.5–4 mm long, crowned by a white pappus.

Comments. This is an infrequent species in the study area, but it is a common species in other mountain ranges of the Tandilia system. It grows in full sunlight conditions, in the shallow soils and cracks at the summit. Sommerfeltia spinulosa is the only species of its genus that has been found in Argentina.