W206 



MULES-EARS 



Wye'thia amplexicau'lis 



Flower head large, sunflowerliko, usu- 

 ally solitary 



Outside (ray) flowers of head petal- 

 like, showy, bright yellow, 1 to 2 in. 

 long, seed-producing 



Bracts in a 2- or 3-rowed series (in- 

 volucre) around base of flower head, 

 firm, smooth, the outside row some- 

 times enlarged and leailike 



Stem stout, simple, leafy 



Stem leaves Somewhat lance-shaped, 

 stalkless or partly clasping, 2 to 6 in. 

 long 



Basal leaves numerous, rather glossy, 

 oblong-lance-shaped or oval, edges en- 

 tire or finely toothed, veiny, stalked, 

 up to 15 in. long, and 4 in. wide 



Center (disk) flowers of head tubular, 

 5-toothcd, yellow, seed-producing 



"Seed" (achene) prismatic, 3- or 4- 

 angled, tipped by a crown of toothed 

 bracts (pappus), 2 of teeth prolonged 

 into bristles (awns) 



Chaffy bract keeled, pointed, nearly 

 as long as disk flower it encloses 



Taproot^ thickened, woody,, the root 

 crown with old leafstalks attached 



Mules-ears, also known as green dock, mountain wyethia, black 

 sunflower, and by the Indian name pe-ik, is a smooth, coarse, tufted 

 herb, 1 to 2 feet high, perennial from a thick, woody taproot. It 

 is the commonest and most widespread and one of the most valuable 

 species of the genus Wyethia. 



These plants were named after Capt. Nathaniel J. "Wyeth, an 

 adventurous American traveler, trader, and inventor, with whom 

 Thomas Nuttall, the famous English naturalist, crossed the continent 

 in 1834. Wyeth himself discovered and first collected Wyethia 

 amplexicaulis, the first known species. The genus, a member of 

 the aster or sunflower family, is wholly confined to the far-western 



