Common name: Spikeweed
Hemizonia pungens Torr. & A.Gray APNI* 
Description: Annual, ± spreading, glandular hairy and with multicellular white hairs on stems and leaf margins.
Upper leaves alternate, linear, 3–10 mm long, 1 mm wide, entire, linear, with wide bases, small rigid pungent.
Lower leaves pinnatifid with oblong lanceolate lobes 2–6 cm long. Heads solitary or numerous, hemispherical or broader; involucral bracts shortly spinose, closely subtended by spinose leaves; receptacle convex, with hair-like scales. Rays florets mostly > 15, pale yellow; ligules 4–7 mm long, 2-toothed. Disc florets yellow.
Achenes 1–2 mm long, dark brown to black, with small apically offset horn where the floret attaches. Disc achenes mostly or all sterile.
Flowering: summer–autumn.
Distribution and occurrence: Uncommon weed of pasturelands, in the Orange, Culcairn and Canberra districts. Native of N Amer.
NSW subdivisions: *CT, *ST, *SWS
Text by L. Murray
Taxon concept: Flora of NSW 3 (1992)
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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