Heterotheca villosaÌý±¹²¹°ù.Ìýballardii (Rydb.) Semple includes usually robust plants with larger more-hairy, less-glandular oblong leaves. It is native to the northern prairies from Nebraska into Canada. It is known only as a tetraploid and the heads are large and showy for the species.
Nesom (2006) presented an overview of the H. villosa complex and subsquently (Nesom 2020). The result was to raise most races to species level and in this case as H. ballardii (Rydb.) Nesom, characterized by relatively large heads weakly clustered on long peduncles and narrow, coarsely ciliate subtending (or subcapitular) bracts. Nesom (2020) restricted the range to Minnesota, the Dakotas, southern Manitoba and eastern Saskatchewan.
Last revised 1 May 2025 by J.C. Semple
© 2025 J.C. Semple, including all photographs unless otherwise indicated
1-2. Heterotheca villosa var. ballardii. 1. Heads, Semple & K. Shea 2029, Morton Co., North Dakota. 2. Distribution (Semple 1996).