[Prairie-dandelions: The Genus Nothocalais East of the Cascade Mts. of Oregon and Washington]
False Agoseris, Weevil Microseris
Nothocalais troximoides
Synonyms: Microseris alpestris, Microseris troximoides, Scorzonella troximoides
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False agoseris as seen at left at Brooks Memorial State Park near Satus Pass,
Washington.........May 11, 2014. The photo at right shows false agoseris along Box Canyon Road on BLM lands just east of the trailhead gate. Simcoe Mountains of north-central Klickitat County, WA......May 1, 2022.
Photo at right of false agoseris atop the Horse Heaven Hills, west of Richland, WA.........4/19/98.
Characteristics:
False agoseris is a perennial to 30 cm in height. The numerous
leaves are basal, narrow (to 1 cm wide) and up to 40 cm long. The margins are
often crisped or wavy, and often with a thin white striping along the edge.
The flower heads are solitary and dandelion-like. The bracts
are a little less than equal in size, lanceolate to linear-lanceolate in shape,
the upper end tapering gradually to a point. The bracts typically have a dark
midrib, and may have lighter striping on both sides of this midrib. The fruiting
head is dandelion-like.
Habitat:
False agoseris is found in dry open places in
the lowlands and into the foothills.
Range:
False agoseris may be found east of the Cascades
from southern British Columbia south through central Washington and Oregon to
northern California, and eastward to western Montana and northern Utah.
The photo above shows a close-up view from above of the flower
head of false agoseris as seen from Catherine Creek, Columbia River Gorge.......April
9, 2006. This species is similar to the common dandelion in having only
ray flowers present.
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Close-up images of the involucral bracts and
undersides of the ray flowers as well as a dorsal view of the ray flowers of false agoseris as seen from Catherine Creek,
Columbia River Gorge................April 9, 2006. Note the tangled white hairs
on the outside of the involucral bracts and lower, outer surfaces of the rays.
Note also the dark line running the length of the mid-section of the bracts
and the burnt orange stripe running the length of the underside of each ray.
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False agoseris as seen atop Baldy Mountain, Strawberry Mountain Wilderness.......July 2, 2010.
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A seed head of false agoseris as seen at left along the Gray Butte Trail #852, Crooked River National Grasslands.........June 24, 2017. The photo at right shows the flower head of false agoseris as seen along trails at the Deschutes River State Recreation Area......April 6, 2024.
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False agoseris (left) with seed heads as seen along Reecer Creek Road, Wenatchee National Forest...........June 4, 2013. The photo at right shows false agoseris as seen on scablands between FS Road 4040 and the North Fork Crooked River Wild and Scenic River, Ochoco National Forest..........May 11, 2017.
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False agoseris as seen on fairly natural grassland slopes above the east bank of the John Day River about one-half mile downstream of Oregon Highway 206 in Cottonwood Canyon State Park.......April 9, 2016.
False agoseris as seen in scablands at the northeast corner of the junction of FS Roads #42 and #3010, southeast corner of Big Summit Prairie, Ochoco National Forest.........April 29, 2016.
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False agoseris in bud with slender-fruit desert parsley (Lomatium leptocarpum) and big-head clover (Trifolium macrocephalum) as seen (left) in scablands near the junction of FS Roads #42 and #300, Ochoco National Forest and adjacent BLM lands..........April 30, 2016. False agoseris (right) atop the Horse Heaven Hills, west of Richland,
WA.........4/19/98.
Paul Slichter