Gaillardia pulchella
Gaillardia pulchella is a North American species of short-lived perennial or annual flowering plants in the sunflower family.
Description
The branching stem of G. pulchella is hairy and upright, growing to tall. The leaves are alternate, mostly basal, long, with edges smooth to coarsely toothed or lobed. It has a hairy stem, simple or branched near the base, where the leaves are essentially located towards the bottom of the plant.The pinwheel, daisy-like inflorescences are 4–6.5 cm in diameter, vividly colored with red, orange and yellow and is surrounded by 10 to 20 ray florets up to 2 cm; the ligule has three lobes. The central disc florets of the flower head tend to be more red-violet, with the outer ray florets being yellow. In one variety, almost the entire flower is red, with only the barest tips of the petals touched with yellow. It typically blooms from May to July, but does so practically year-round in some areas.
The fruit is an achene, almost pyramidal, hairy, and prolonged by a pappus in length.
Distribution and habitat
It is native to northern Mexico and the southern and central United States from Arizona east to Florida and the Carolinas and north as far as Nebraska. It is also naturalized in scattered locations in other parts of the U.S. as well as in Québec, Ontario, China, South Africa, and parts of Central and South America. The plant generally lives in the sandy plains and deserts of the south of the North American continent. It is common along the roads and prefers sandy soils. It can also grow on vacant lots in urban areas, but generally below above sea level.The flower has also been introduced to the Penghu Islands in Taiwan, where it is the County Flower of Penghu County. It is called tiānrén jú in Chinese.