Arnica latifolia | |
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Wenatchee National Forest, Washington | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Asterales |
Family: | Asteraceae |
Genus: | Arnica |
Species: | A. latifolia
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Binomial name | |
Arnica latifolia | |
Synonyms[1] | |
Synonymy
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Arnica latifolia is a species of arnica in the sunflower family, known by the common names broadleaf arnica, broad leaved arnica, mountain arnica, and daffodil leopardbane.[2] It is native to western North America from Alaska east to Northwest Territories and south to Mono County, California, and Taos County, New Mexico.[3][4] It grows in mountain habitat such as forest and meadows.
Arnica latifolia is a perennial herb growing from a long rhizome and producing a hairy, mostly naked stem 10 to 50 centimeters tall. It has a cluster of leaves around its base and usually a few pairs along the lower part of the stem. The leaves are lance-shaped to broad and nearly heart-shaped, and are usually toothed.[5]
The inflorescence contains one or more daisy-like flower heads lined in glandular phyllaries. Each has a center of yellow disc florets and several yellow ray florets up to 3 centimeters long. The fruit is an achene with a white pappus.[5]
The plant was first described in 1832 by German-Russian botanist Gustav Heinrich von Bongard, based on material collected near Sitka, now in Alaska (then called Russian America).[6][7][8]
The species could be confused with the similar Arnica cordifolia, from which it can be distinguished by the leaves.[9]