Annuals or biennials, 15-70(-120+) cm. Stems mostly erect. Leaves all or mostly alternate (proximalmost sometimes opposite); blades simple or 1-2-ternately lobed, lobes ovate or obovate to lanceolate or oblanceolate, 2-25 × 1-6(-8) mm, faces sparsely scabrellous, usually gland-dotted as well. Involucres 4-6+ × 8-12+ mm. Ray florets 10-15; corolla laminae 5-6(-10+) mm. Disc florets 40-80+; corollas 3-3.5 mm. Cypselae 2.5-3.5+ mm, faces ± hirtellous; pappi of ± spatulate to oblanceolate, apically ± muticous scales 1-1.5 mm. 2n = 24.

Flowering (May-)Jul-Aug(-Nov). Sandy soils, limestone, openings in grasslands and pinyon-juniper woodlands; 900-2000 m; N.Mex., Tex.; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila).

Duration: Annual

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Forb/Herb

General: Annual to biennial herbs, 15-70 cm tall, occasionally growing as tall as 1.5 m; stems mostly erect.

Leaves: Mostly alternate (lowest leaves sometimes opposite), petiolate; blades simple or 1-2 times ternately lobed, the lobes oblong or ovate, 0.5- 2.5 cm long by 2-8 mm wide, sparsely scabrellous and usually gland-dotted.

Flowers: Flower heads yellow, radiate, on long peduncles in a terminal flat-topped panicle; involucre (the ring of bracts surrounding the flower head) hemisperic, 0.5 cm high by 1 cm wide, the bracts (phyllaries) in 2 series; ray florets 10-15, the corolla laminae (ray petals) yellow, 0.5-1 cm long; disc florets 40-80+, the corollas yellow, 3 mm high.

Fruits: Achenes 3 mm long, with small coarse hairs; pappus of blunt-tipped scales, 1-1.5 mm, attached to the achene tips.

Ecology: Found in sandy or limestone soils, in openings in grasslands and pinyon-juniper woodlands, from 3,000-7,000 ft (914-2134 m); flowers May-November.

Distribution: NM, TX; south to n MEX (Chihuahua, Coahuila)

Notes: Look for a single-stemmed, erect, perennial herb with lobed leaves concentrated toward the bottom of the stem; herbage that is slightly rough to the touch and glandular; topped with a flat-topped inflorescence of showy sunflower-like flower heads, with yellow rays (the petals around the outside) and yellow discs (the florets in the middle). This species is most similar to Bahia biternata, but the leaves of that species are dissected into thinner lobes (linear-filiform lobes, up to 0.5 mm wide); while the leaves of B. pedata have wider lobes (oblong lobes, 2-8 mm wide). Also quite similar to Amauriopsis dissecta (formerly called Bahia dissecta) but that species lacks the pappus of scales attached to the top of the seed, and the herbage is hairier, and more of a blue-green color. Flora Neomexicana (Allred and Ivey 2012) use the name Amauriopsis dissecta for this species, but Flora of North America (2006) uses the name Bahia dissecta.

Ethnobotany: Unknown, but other species in the genus have uses.

Etymology: Bahia is named after Juan Francisco de Bahi y Fonseca (1775-1841), a Spanish botany professor; pedata means foot-like, referring to the 3-lobed leaf resembling a bird-s foot.

Synonyms: None

Editor: AHazelton 2015