Perennials, 50-100 cm. Leaves opposite (proximal) or alternate (distal); petioles 1-8 mm; blades ovate to deltate-ovate or lance-olate (distal), 2-10 × 1.3-7 cm, margins serrate or serrulate, faces strigose. Heads borne singly or 2-9 in ± corymbiform arrays. Peduncles 1-15 cm. Involucres 11-15 × 7-15 mm. Phyllary apices gradually narrowed. Paleae 8-11 mm, apices acuminate, shortly cuspidate. Ray florets 6-8; tubes 1.5-2 mm, laminae 9-19 mm. Disc florets 40+; corollas 5.5-6.6 mm (staminal filaments glabrous). Cypselae 5-6.5 mm, ± strigose; pappi of 2 lacerate, aristate scales 5-5.5 mm plus 2-4 lacerate scales 0.5-1.3 mm. 2n = 34.

Flowering Jul-Sep. Dry slopes and canyons, mostly pine forests and limestone soils; 1300-2700 m; Ariz., N.Mex., Tex.; Mexico.

Duration: Perennial

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Subshrub

General: Herbaceous perennials, to 100 cm tall, stems branching, leafy.

Leaves: Leaves opposite proximally or alternate distally, ovate to deltate-ovate or lanceolate, 2-10 cm long and 1-7 cm wide, margins serrate or serrulate, faces strigose.

Flowers: Heads radiate, rays yellow, neutral, 6-8, laminae 9-19 mm long, disk flowers numerous, corollas 5.5-6.5 mm, involucres 11-15 mm high, receptacles convex, with persistent paleae clasping the achenes, involucres campanulate to cylindric, phyllaries linear-lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, with acuminate tips, in 2 or more series, the apices gradually narrowing, heads solitary or in groups of 2-9 in corymbiform arrays.

Fruits: Achenes laterally compressed, 4-angled, 5-6.5 mm long, faces strigose. Pappus of 2 awned scales 5-5.5 mm long and 2-4 short, unawned scales to 1 mm long.

Ecology: Found on limestone substrates, in pine forests, on dry slopes, plains, and in canyons, from 3,500-9,000 ft (1067-2743 m); flowering June-October.

Distribution: Arizona, New Mexico, Texas; Mexico.

Notes: Good identifiers for this species are the firm, short-petioled leaves, the rather large disk of the heads 11-15 mm high, and the lanceolate phyllaries.

Ethnobotany: Unknown

Etymology: Viguiera named after Louis Guillaume Alexandre Viguier (1790-1867) a French botanist, while cordifolia means heart-shaped leaf.

Synonyms: None

Editor: SBuckley, 2010, LCrumbacher