Cymbolaena

Cymbolaena is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the aster family, Asteraceae, containing the single species Cymbolaena griffithii. It is native to Asia, where it is distributed from Turkey to Pakistan. It is one of several genera in "the Filago group," and some authors include it within the genus Filago.[1]

Cymbolaena
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Asterales
Family:	Asteraceae
Subfamily:	Asteroideae
Tribe:	Gnaphalieae
Genus:	Cymbolaena Smoljan
Species:	C. griffithii
Binomial name
Cymbolaena griffithii (A.Gray) Wagenitz
Synonyms
Cymbolaena longifolia Micropus longifolius Stylocline griffithii

This is an annual herb coated with appressed gray hairs. The stem is very short and the branches extend outward, making the plant squat in stature, sometimes forming a patch on the ground. The alternately arranged leaves are linear. The disc-shaped flower heads are clustered in glomerules 1 or 2 centimeters wide. There are layers of tiny woolly phyllaries around the flower head. It contains usually 4 tubular florets each no more than 1.5 millimeters long.[2] Cypselas from bisexual florets have deciduous white pappi, and those from female florets lack pappi.[3]

The genus name Cymbolaena is a partial anagram of Bombycilaena.[1]

References

1. Galbany-Casals, M., et al. (2010). How many of Cassini anagrams should there be? Molecular systematics and phylogenetic relationships in the Filago group (Asteraceae, Gnaphalieae), with special focus on the genus Filago. Taxon 59(6), 1671-89.
2. Cymbolaena griffithii. Flora of Pakistan.
3. Abid, R. and M. Qaiser. (2008). Cypsela morphology of some genera in the tribe Gnaphalieae (Asteraceae) from Pakistan. Pak. J. Bot 40(2), 473-85.