Launaea intybacea (Jacq.) Beauverd

Compositae, H. Beentje, C. Jeffrey & D.J.N. Hind. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2005

Morphology General Habit

Annual or biennial herb, erect, 0.3–2 m high; root system shallow; stems hollow, often purplish near the base, branching in the distal part of the plant, glabrous.

Morphology Leaves

Leaves crowded near the base or both basal and cauline, sessile, oblanceolate to broadly elliptic, often pinnatilobed with retrorse lobes, 4–30 cm long, 1.5–14 cm wide, base subauriculate, lobes deltoid, to 3 cm long, margins acicular-dentate, apex obtuse to rounded, glabrous.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Capitulum

Capitula many, subsessile in large, lax panicles with long side branches; stalks of individual capitula 2–5 mm; involucre 10–12 mm long, conical-cylindric to spreading; phyllaries green, tinged with brown, ovate (outer) to lanceolate (inner), 1.5–12 mm, the outer extending down the stalk, acute, margins broad and hyaline, glabrous or minutely ciliate at the very apex.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Florets

Florets 20–26 per capitulum; corolla yellow or pale lemon yellow, the ligule drying purplish?, tube 6–8 mm long, distally pilose, ligule 4.5–5 mm long.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Achenes grey-black, subcylindric but slightly flattened, 3–4 mm long, with 4 main ribs and 8 thinner ones, all muricate, the apex narrowed into a beak up to 1 mm long; pappus white, 6–8 mm long, of mixed setae and downy hairs.

Habitat

Inland in dry riverbeds or on sparsely vegetated rocky slopes, on the coast in sand pockets on coral rock, on old masonry, and a weed in gardens and cultivation; 1–1800 m

Distribution

West Africa from Cape Verde Is. to Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, Comoros, Madagascar, SeychellesArabia, S Asia, and the New World tropics K1 K6 K7 T2 T4 T6 T7 T8 Z

Distribution

Biogeografic region: Caribbean. Elevation range: 100–120 m a.s.l. Naturalised in Colombia. Colombian departments: Atlántico, Bolívar, La Guajira.

Habit

Herb.

Ecology

Habitat according IUCN Habitats Classification: savanna, shrubland, artificial - terrestrial.

Vernacular

Cerraja

M. Thulin et al. Flora of Somalia, Vol. 1-4 [updated 2008] https://plants.jstor.org/collection/FLOS

Morphology General Habit

Polymorphic annual herb, 15–150 cm high

Morphology Stem

Stems erect, either leafy in the lower half or leafless and leaves then in basal rosette

Morphology Leaves

Basal leaves up to 1.5–37 x 0.5–14 cm, obovate to spathulate, obtuse to acute, sinuate-dentate to runcinate, margin denticulate with white stiff teeth; stem leaves smaller, lanceolate, pinnatifid, sagittately auriculate

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences

Synflorescences with many capitula, of few to many spreading-erect flowering axes Capitula often clustered at the nodes, with 12–35 florets; involucre slender, 9–13 mm long, inner phyllaries 8

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Florets

Florets pale yellow, ligule 5.5–6 mm long, linear; anthers (appendages excluded) 1.1–1.3 mm long

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Achenes 3.2–4.5 mm long, the inner ones with 4 main ribs, greyish, weakly wrinkled, cuspidate to shortly rostrate, the marginal ones with a beak 1/8–1/4 of the achene length and 5 main ribs, sharply wrinkled, black (occasionally all pale); pappus 7–8 mm long, persistent, of outer downy hairs and inner bristles.

Distribution

S2, 3 probably originating from the SW Arabian Peninsula and Eritrea, now scattered along the southern edge of the Sahara to W Africa, introduced to E, SE, SW Africa and Madagascar, E Arabia, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and also to the Caribbean.

Ecology

Altitude range 0–100 m.

Vernacular

Burdab, burdet kuwene, kablaror, kable, warama caanoole, wanshaqaar (Somali).

George R. Proctor (2012). Flora of the Cayman Isands (Second Edition). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Morphology Leaves

Upper leaves few and small Basal and lower stem leaves obovate to oblanceolate in outline, 8–20 cm long, 4–7 cm broad, runcinate-dentate or irregularly coarsely dentate, ciliate

Morphology General Habit

Mostly narrowly lanceolate Erect glabrous herb up to 1.2 m tall, sparingly branched, containing white latex

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers

Flowers yellow Heads numerous, pedunculate; outer involucral bracts ovate, 2–4 mm long with scarious margins; inner ones lanceolate to oblong, 8–12 mm long with short white hairs at apex

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Achenes 3.5–4 mm long, ribbed and muricate; pappus of soft white hairs 4–5 mm long.

Distribution

Grand Cayman. A nearly cosmopolitan weed.

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation

Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident

Bernal, R., G. Galeano, A. Rodríguez, H. Sarmiento y M. Gutiérrez. 2017. Nombres Comunes de las Plantas de Colombia. http://www.biovirtual.unal.edu.co/nombrescomunes/

Vernacular

cerraja

Bernal, R., Gradstein, S.R. & Celis, M. (eds.). 2015. Catálogo de plantas y líquenes de Colombia. Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá. http://catalogoplantasdecolombia.unal.edu.co

Distribution

Nativa en Colombia; Alt. 100 - 120 m.; Llanura del Caribe.

Morphology General Habit

Hierba

Conservation

No Evaluada