Blepharizonia laxa

Glandular big tarweed

Family: Asteraceae · Type: annual · Native

Glandular big tarweed is a California native annual found in western San Joaquin Valley, eastern San Francisco Bay, and southern Coast Ranges in openings of woodland, chaparral, and grassland at elevations below 1,500 meters. Flowering from July to November, this plant produces pale yellow to white flowers in distinctive clusters covered with tack-shaped glands. Growing with slender stems 30 to 60 centimeters tall, it spreads in an open, branching form characteristic of tarweeds. Its leaves are narrow and lance-shaped, becoming smaller and more sparse toward the top of the plant. The flower heads are notably distinctive, with involucres that are coarse to stiff-hairy and adorned with scattered glandular structures.

Habitat: Openings in woodland, chaparral, grassland

Bloom period: Jul-Nov

Elevation: < 1500 m

Bioregions: w SnJV, e SnFrB, SCoR.

California counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Fresno, Kern, Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Stanislaus, San Joaquin, Kings, Merced

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