Heterotheca villosa var. foliosa (Nutt.) Harms is one of the hairy-leaved sparsely glandular varieties of the species. Semple (1996) separated the variety from var. villosa by having narrowly to broadly oblong leaves, bracts subtending heads often exceeding the involucres, and stems often with numerous long spreading hairs; and it was separated from var. ballardii by having less showy rays.
Nesom (2020) treated var. foliosa as a synonym of H. villosa which was treated in a very narrow sense compared to Semple (1996). Plants in the western portion of the range as shown here were treated as H. hirsuta (Hook.) Nesom, which was variable in stem hair density and length and described as hirsute, hirsute-pilose to hirsute-villous, or hispid-pilose with spreading to spreading-deflexed hairs, usually in a single story but sometimes with a distinct upper story of longer hairs.
Last revised 1 May 2025 by J.C. Semple
© 2025 J.C. Semple, including all photographs unless otherwise indicated
1-4. Heterotheca villosa var. foliosa. 1. Mid size plant, Semple 11406, Crook Co., Wyoming. 2. Flowering shoot, Semple 11401, Crook Co., Wyoming. 3. Heads and upper stems, S 11406. 4. Range map, Fig 39C in Semple (1996).