Chaenactis glabriuscula var. megacephala

Big headed yellow chaenactis

Family: Asteraceae · Type: annual · Native

Big headed yellow chaenactis is a California native annual found in southern Sierra Nevada foothills, San Joaquin Valley, south Coast Ranges, and western Transverse Ranges in dry, often sandy slopes and woodland openings at elevations of 300 to 1,500 meters. Flowering from March to June, this plant produces yellow flowers in heads 1 to 3 per stem, with widely cylindric involucres and corollas 5 to 8 millimeters long. Growing 15 to 40 centimeters tall with generally 1 to 5 erect or ascending stems that branch proximally, it has a delicate, open structure. Its leaves are 1 to 8 centimeters long with flat blades typically 1-pinnately lobed, featuring 2 to 7 pairs of lobes with flat to cylindric tips. The fruit is 5 to 8.5 millimeters long with a pappus of 4 to 5 scales, the longest generally 5 to 8 millimeters.

Habitat: Dry, often sandy slopes, openings in chaparral, woodland

Bloom period: Mar-Jun

Elevation: 300-1500 m

Bioregions: s SNF, SnJV, SCoR, WTR.

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