Sanvitalia abertii
| Sanvitalia abertii | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | Asterales |
| Family: | Asteraceae |
| Tribe: | Heliantheae |
| Genus: | Sanvitalia |
| Species: | S. abertii |
| Binomial name | |
| Sanvitalia abertii A.Gray | |
Sanvitalia abertii is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common name Abert's creeping zinnia. It is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, where it grows in desert scrub, desert mountains and woodlands. It is an annual herb somewhat variable in appearance. The mainly erect stem may be 2 to 29 centimeters tall, and simple or with many branches. The linear or lance-shaped leaves are a few centimeters long. The plant is coated in rough hairs. The inflorescence is a cyme of flower heads with thick, leathery yellow ray florets 2 or 3 millimeters long and notched at the tips. The fruit is an achene. Achenes arising from the ray florets are light-colored and tipped with pappi, while those from the disc florets at the center of the flower head are darker and lack pappi.