Arnica fulgens

Hillside arnica, Hillside Arnica, hillside arnica, hillside arnica

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 2B.2

Hillside arnica is a rare (CNPS 2B.2) California native perennial found in northern Sierra Nevada eastern slopes and the Modoc Plateau in open, damp depressions within sagebrush scrub or grassland at elevations of 1,800 to 2,700 meters. Flowering from May to July, this plant produces yellow-orange ray flowers in radiate heads 10 to 30 millimeters long with widely hemispheric involucres. Growing with 1 to several unbranched stems 10 to 75 centimeters tall, it emerges from a short, densely scaly, branched rhizome that is stalked-glandular and generally hairy. Its basal leaves are densely clustered and persistent, with narrowly elliptic to oblanceolate blades 4.5 to 20 centimeters long, while cauline leaves are 3 to 5 pairs and reduced toward the stem's tip. The fruit is 3.5 to 7 millimeters long with forked hairs and a short-barbed white or pale straw-colored pappus.

Habitat: Open, damp depressions in sagebrush scrub or grassland

Bloom period: May-Jul

Elevation: 1800-2700 m

Bioregions: n SNH (e slope), MP

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.