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Grindelia ciliata

species of plant

Specimen drawers, botanical folios and brass scientific instruments under study light
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJun 28, 2025
Entity authorityQ5609418 ↗
Source-derived summary

Grindelia ciliata (syn. Grindelia papposa, Haplopappus ciliatus, and Prionopsis ciliata) is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names Spanish gold, goldenweed, and waxed goldenweed.

Grindelia ciliata is native to sections of the central United States, primarily the Great Plains from Iowa and Nebraska south to Texas and New Mexico. There are also isolated populations in Arizona and apparently naturalized populations in California, Maryland, Michigan, and the Mississippi Valley.

Grindelia ciliata grows in prairies and grasslands, and in disturbed areas such as roadsides and along railroad tracks.

Grindelia ciliata is an annual or biennial shrub sometimes as much as 150 cm (5 feet) tall, its upper stem branching. It is hairless. The leaves are alternately arranged, up to 8 cm (3.2 inches) long, their spiny-toothed blades longer than wide. The top of the stem is occupied by an inflorescence of several flower heads, their hemispheric bases up to 2.5 centimeters (one inch) wide and lined with many small, green phyllaries with curving tips. Each flower head may have up to 30 narrow, pointed yellow ray florets between 1 and 2 centimeters (0.4-0.8 inches) long, surrounding a center of yellow disc florets.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Grindelia ciliata” as species of plant. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Grindelia, ciliata and species.

Editorial reviewA practical orientation to terminology and classification, particularly when read beside dated observations, specimens or technical literature. The current 197-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Grindelia, ciliata and species providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Grindelia ciliata”, the useful work is to connect “species of plant” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 28, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q5609418. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.

Critical limits

Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.

Best used for
  • Current terminology
  • Classification context
  • Finding cited technical literature
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Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Grindelia ciliata”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Grindelia ciliata primary sources, Grindelia ciliata archive and Grindelia research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Grindelia ciliata”?
  2. Has classification or technical consensus changed since the cited source?
  3. Which observation, specimen, dataset or publication supports the account?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Grindelia ciliata” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.