Calycoseris wrightii

White tack-stem

Family: Asteraceae · Type: annual · Native

White tack-stem is a California native annual found in the Mojave Desert and Inyo Mountains on desert plains, pavement, washes, and gravelly slopes at elevations of 100 to 1,600 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces white flowers with fine reddish veins on the back of ligules that are 2 to 3 centimeters long. Growing with delicate stems reaching up to 15 centimeters tall, it forms a distinctive low-spreading habit across desert landscapes. Its basal leaves extend 6 to 15 centimeters long, creating a rosette-like arrangement at the plant's base. The fruit is dark brown with roughened surfaces and distinctive tubercled ribs, developing a pappus 5 to 6.5 millimeters long.

Habitat: Desert plains, pavement, washes, gravelly slopes

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: 100-1600 m

Bioregions: W&ampI, D

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