Species
+

Chrysactinia mexicana A.Gray

Damianita, damianita

Climate known 60 photographs
Add one to my plants Sow seed

Every figure on this page is derived from public data by a stated rule and says its source; nothing here is written by a person or a model, except the Wikipedia passage, which is quoted and marked as such. How it is made.

Summary

Chrysactinia mexicana, common name Damianita daisy, is a species of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, native to Mexico and to the southwestern United States. It has been found in Texas, New Mexico, Aguascalientes, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, México State, Nuevo León, Oaxaca, Puebla, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Zacatecas, Tamaulipas, and Veracruz.

Text from Wikipedia, “Chrysactinia mexicana”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written. Kept separate from everything derived here.

About the genus · Chrysactinia

Chrysactinia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, native to Mexico and to the southwestern United States.SpeciesChrysactinia acerosa S.F.Blake - San Luis Potosí, Nuevo León, Zacatecas Chrysactinia lehtoae D.J.Keil - Sinaloa Chrysactinia luzmariae Rzed. & Calderón - Guanajuato Chrysactinia mexicana A.Gray - Texas, New Mexico, Aguascalientes, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, México State, Nuevo León, Oaxaca, Puebla, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Zacatecas, Tamaulipas, Veracruz Chrysactinia pinnata S.Watson - Coahuila, Nuevo León, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas Chrysactinia truncata S.Watson - Nuevo León, Coahuila, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas, Zacatecas

Text from Wikipedia, “Chrysactinia”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written.

Family
Asteraceae
Described by
A.Gray
Native to
New Mexico, Texas, Mexico Central +3
Wild records
1559 in range· 823 open

At a glance

Warmest month
28°C
Jun, mean day; nights 16 °C (CHELSA)
Rain
537mm/yr
7 wet months · peak Jul 82 mm (CHELSA)
Light
25–44DLI
mol/m²/day, winter to summer, open sky (CHELSA shortwave)
In short condensed by rule from the cultivation cards · not written by a person
Rain rule: a summer growing season, May to October in the northern hemisphere (May to October at the habitat, northern). Habitat rain 537 mm a year, wettest July at 82 mm, driest March at 14 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere). Open sky over the habitat: 25 to 44 mol/m²/day. Cold floor -0.1 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).
Each sentence is one card's own one-line form, written by the same rule as the card (Its year, Rain, Light, Temperature); the note cannot say what a card does not. Months are given for the northern hemisphere (set your site in Settings to change this), and the habitat's own alongside. The cards · the figures.

Also known as Pectis taxifolia Greene.

Cultivation

Its year Rain rule: a summer growing season, May to October in the northern hemisphere (May to October at the habitat, northern).

This species’ habitat figures, and what two fixed rules read from them.

The rain rule reads a summer growing season: 70% of the year's rain (422 mm of 537 mm) falls in May to October, warmer than the year (wet-season mean 20.4 °C against a yearly mean of 16.9 °C). Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: November to April.

Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the envelope cells: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve gives a season to reverse. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain Habitat rain 537 mm a year, wettest July at 82 mm, driest March at 14 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

537 mm a year at the habitat, 422 mm of it May to October. Wettest month July at 82 mm, driest March at 14 mm. Across the envelope cells the year's total runs 385 mm to 913 mm (10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year) (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the envelope cells. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light Open sky over the habitat: 25 to 44 mol/m²/day.

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Open sky over the habitat: 25 to 44 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 17, the highest 90th-percentile month 50).

CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Warmth and air Cold floor -0.1 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell is -0.1 °C, the absolute minimum -6.3 °C, about 4 frost nights a year (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 29.7 °C. Monthly means: coldest night 5.5 °C in January (across the envelope cells 0.7 °C to 7.2 °C), warmest day 28.0 °C in June (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). Cold floor: -0.1 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell (NASA POWER).

NASA POWER daily minima and maxima 1981–2024 at the typical cell, lapse-corrected to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA. The cold floor is the figure named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 51 to 59% across the year (monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the envelope cells.

The figures the cards read from are in Climate below, and where they came from in Natural habitat.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat climate through the yearMean day from 17 °C in Jan to 28 °C in Jun; mean night from 6 °C in Jan to 16 °C in Jun. The cold quarter, Dec to Feb, is the three months around the coldest night. 537 mm of rain a year, most in Jul. The bands show the 10th to 90th percentile across 799 habitat cells. Over 44 years at the typical cell the absolute minimum was -6.3 °C and the 99th-percentile day 29.7 °C; neither is dated to a month. Beneath: daily light integral and relative humidity through the year, each on its own scale.-10°10°20°30°40°frost29.7° 99th-percentile day (undated)-6.3° lowest night in 44 yrs (undated)°C · day and nightcold quarter0255075100125150mm rainDLI 25–44RH 51–59 %JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain 10th–90th percentile across 799 habitat cells cold quarter: the three months around the coldest night extremes over 44 years at the typical cell, marked at the edge: undated DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C17 / 13–2119 / 15–2322 / 18–2526 / 21–2828 / 22–3028 / 21–3227 / 20–3427 / 21–3425 / 19–3123 / 19–2620 / 16–2317 / 14–21
Night °C6 / 1–77 / 2–99 / 4–1111 / 7–1514 / 10–1916 / 11–2216 / 10–2316 / 11–2414 / 11–2112 / 8–168 / 4–126 / 1–8
Rain mm23 / 13–5315 / 10–5514 / 7–7131 / 14–6559 / 24–10181 / 43–12782 / 54–11870 / 48–11382 / 52–13948 / 30–10816 / 10–7216 / 8–55
DLI26 / 19–3132 / 23–3739 / 29–4344 / 35–4744 / 37–5043 / 39–4943 / 39–4541 / 39–4335 / 33–3832 / 26–3528 / 20–3225 / 17–29
RH %55 / 48–5853 / 45–5851 / 42–5752 / 40–5756 / 42–6159 / 46–6358 / 51–6557 / 52–6559 / 52–6758 / 49–6456 / 47–6055 / 48–58

Each figure is the median across the 799 grid cells holding the 1456 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. Extremes and elevation were read at the typical cell 1425:1651 (18.725, -97.425). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum -6.3 °C, 1st-percentile night -0.1 °C, 99th-percentile day 29.7 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Envelope: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 799 distinct grid cells holding the 1456 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1425:1651 (its coldest month's mean night nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 18.50_-97.500, lapse-corrected +252 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 2316 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across every in-range record's cell, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeNew Mexico, Texas, Mexico Central, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Southwest
Map marker29.85, -98.283 · in the densest population, 1331 records (85% of those in range)
Evidence usedThe map marker and the climate envelope rest on all 1559 georeferenced records inside the native range; the map shows only the 823 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 577 km away. 9 records outside the range (gardens, roadsides, misidentifications) ignored. 103 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km and stay on the map but off the climate.
The map markerthe map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population inside the densest 4° block of the 1559 in-range records; it decides nothing.

Photographs

Chrysactinia mexicanaChrysactinia mexicanaChrysactinia mexicanaChrysactinia mexicanaChrysactinia mexicanaChrysactinia mexicanaChrysactinia mexicanaChrysactinia mexicana

Photographs: (c) Reid Hardin, some rights reserved (CC BY) (8).

Photographs: iNaturalist and Wikimedia Commons did not answer when this page was built; what is shown came from the sources that did.

Papers naming this species

Works whose title or abstract names Chrysactinia mexicana, most cited first, from OpenAlex (CC0). A mention, not a cultivation source: nothing on this page is drawn from them.

Chemical Composition and Antifungal Activity of Essential Oil of Chrysactinia mexicana Gray
Norma Cecilia Cárdenas-Ortega, Miguel Ángel Zavala-Sánchez, Juan Rogelio Aguirre‐Rivera, Cuauhtemoc Pérez‐González (2005) · Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Antidepressant-like and toxicological effects of a standardized aqueous extract of Chrysactinia mexicana A. Gray (Asteraceae) in mice
Julia Cassani, Octavio Alberto Ferreyra-Cruz, Ana María Dorantes‐Barrón, Rosa María Vigueras Villaseñor (2015) · Journal of Ethnopharmacology
Chemical Compositions and Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Activities of the Essential Oils from Magnolia grandiflora, Chrysactinia mexicana , and Schinus molle Found in Northeast Mexico
Laura Guerra-Boone, Rocío Álvarez-Román, Ricardo Salazar‐Aranda, Anabel Torres-Cirio (2013) · Natural Product Communications
Natural Compounds from Mexican Medicinal Plants as Potential Drug Leads for Anti-Tuberculosis Drugs
Rocio Gómez‐Cansino, Silvia Laura Guzmán‐Gutiérrez, María Guadalupe Campos-Lara, Clara Espitia-Pinzón (2017) · Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências
Plant Communities Suitable for Green Roofs in Arid Regions
Rachel Gioannini, Malik G. Al‐Ajlouni, Richard Kile, Dawn VanLeeuwen (2018) · Sustainability
Screening of north-east Mexico medicinal plants with activities against herpes simplex virus and human cancer cell line
David A. Silva-Mares, Verónica M. Rivas-Galindo, Ricardo Salazar‐Aranda, Luis Alejandro Pérez-López (2018) · Natural Product Research
Antispasmodic Effects and Action Mechanism of Essential Oil of Chrysactinia mexicana A. Gray on Rabbit Ileum
Daniel Zavala-Mendoza, Laura Grasa, Miguel Ángel Zavala-Sánchez, Salud Pérez‐Gutiérrez (2016) · Molecules
Activity against Streptococcus Pneumoniae of the Essential Oil and 5-(3-Buten-1-ynyl)-2, 2′-bithienyl Isolated from Chrysactinia mexicana Roots
Bárbara Missiam Mezari Guevara Campos, Anabel Torres Cirio, Verónica Mayela Rivas Galindo, Ricardo Salazar‐Aranda (2011) · Natural Product Communications
6-Hydroxyflavonol glycosides from Chrysactinia mexicana
Jeffrey B. Harborne, Jenny Greenham, John Eagles, Eckhard Wollenweber (1991) · Phytochemistry
Monoterpenes from Chrysactinia mexicana
Guillermo Delgado, Marı́a Yolanda Rios (1991) · Phytochemistry
Efecto de polvos de asteráceas sobre el gorgojo del maíz (Sitophilus zeamais Motsch)
Bertha Irene Juárez-Flores, Yolanda Jasso‐Pineda, Juan Rogelio Aguirre‐Rivera, Isidora Jasso Pineda (2010) · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas)
Evaluation of antihyperglycemic activity of plants in northeast mexico
Sara J. Adame-Miranda, Graciela Granados-Guzmán, David A. Silva-Mares, Juan José Acevedo‐Fernández (2021) · Cellular and Molecular Biology

Similar habitat climate the 6 species whose habitat climate is nearest this one's: mean day and night, month by month, and rain on a log scale, in calendar order, so a habitat with the same seasons six months out is far, not near. Nothing else counts: not range, not family.

History & registers

Where this page came from built 2026-09-20 · dossier v2 · node
gbif.species answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.synonyms answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.vernacular answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
wcvp.distribution answered
gbif.occurrences answeredGBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.3h4zam
climate answered
wikidata answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
wikipedia answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20; this build: skipped
inat.taxon not askedcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive)
inat.photos.wild answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20; this build: skipped
inat.photos.cultivated nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
commons not askedcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
gbif.media answered
openalex answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20; this build: skipped

Every upstream is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, or refused. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 74 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.