Adenocaulon bicolor

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Asterids
Cladus: Campanulids
Ordo: Asterales

Familia: Asteraceae
Subfamilia: Mutisioideae
Tribus: Mutisieae
Genus: Adenocaulon
Species: Adenocaulon bicolor

Name

Adenocaulon bicolor Hook., 1829
Synonyms

Adenocaulon integrifolium Nutt.

Distribution
Native distribution areas:

Continental: Northern America
USA (California, Idaho, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington State, Wyoming), Canada (Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario)

References: Brummitt, R.K. 2001. TDWG – World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, 2nd Edition
References

Hooker, W.J., Botanical Miscellany. London 1: 19, t. 15 (1829)

Links

Hassler, M. 2018. Adenocaulon bicolor. World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World In: Roskovh, Y., Abucay, L., Orrell, T., Nicolson, D., Bailly, N., Kirk, P., Bourgoin, T., DeWalt, R.E., Decock, W., De Wever, A., Nieukerken, E. van, Zarucchi, J. & Penev, L., eds. 2018. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2018 Jun. 03. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2018. Adenocaulon bicolor. Published online. Accessed: Jun. 03 2018.
The Plant List 2013. Adenocaulon bicolor in The Plant List Version 1.1. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2018 Jun. 03.
Tropicos.org 2018. Adenocaulon bicolor. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2018 Jun. 03.
USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Adenocaulon bicolor in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed: 07-Oct-06.

Vernacular names
English: American trailplant

Adenocaulon bicolor, the American trailplant,[1] trailplant,[2] pathfinder,[3] or silver-green,[4] is a flowering plant in the aster family (Asteraceae) native to North America.[1][2] It is found in southern Canada and across the northern and western United States. It is the only species of Adenocaulon native to the United States or Canada.[5] The genus name Adenocaulon is derived from Greek, and refers to the glandular stem.[4] The English name "Pathfinder" was given to this species, because if you walk through a patch of its leaves you will find the path you made through them, with some of the white undersides of the leaves having been exposed, by them having been twisted. Over time, the plant will turn its leaves back with the green side up, and the white side down.

This plant has a very thin, glandular, erect, branching stem surrounded by triangular leaves that grow only at the base. The basal leaves are triangular with densely white-hairy lower surfaces, while the upper surface is green, hence the specific epithet bicolor.[6] Each leaf grows up to 15 cm (5.9 in) wide. The leaf edges are coarsely toothed and sometimes entire (lacking teeth). The stem reaches around 90 cm (35 in) tall. Upon the branches are tiny inflorescences of white flowers, each flower measuring only a few millimeters in width. Around each inflorescence grows a distinctive array of club-shaped fruits covered in tiny, stalked, sticky glands.[2][3] The seeds are dispersed by these fruits sticking to the fur of animals, and the clothes of people, that walk through the stalks of seed heads.

American trailplant can be found in the understory of moist woods and forests, often near trails.[2][6]

The plant flowers put out a slightly foul smell to charm small flies.[7]

Entire plant

Upper surface of the leaf

White-hairy lower surface of the leaf

Close-up of the flowerhead and glandular stem

References

USDA Plants Profile
Jepson Manual Treatment
"Adenocaulon bicolor". Retrieved 25 August 2020.
Henry, Joseph Kaye (1915). Flora of southern British Columbia and Vancouver Island with many references to Alaska and northern species. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.161397.
"Adenocaulon Hook". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
Reznicek, A. A.; Voss, E. G.; Walters, B. S., eds. (February 2011). "Adenocaulon bicolor". Michigan Flora Online. University of Michigan Herbarium. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
Fagan, Damian (2019). Wildflowers of Oregon: A Field Guide to Over 400 Wildflowers, Trees, and Shrubs of the Coast, Cascades, and High Desert. Guilford, CT: FalconGuides. p. 26. ISBN 1-4930-3633-5. OCLC 1073035766.