Chaenactis xantiana

Fleshy pincushion, Fleshy Pincushion

Family: Asteraceae · Type: annual · Native

Fleshy pincushion is a California native annual found in southern Sierra Nevada, Tehachapi, southern San Joaquin Valley, southeastern South Coast Ranges, Santa Cruz Mountains, northern Transverse Ranges, Great Basin, and western Mojave Desert in open sandy habitats at elevations of 300 to 2,600 meters. Flowering from March to July, this plant produces dirty white to pale pink flowers in small heads with flexible, recurved phyllary tips. Growing 10 to 40 centimeters tall with generally 1 to 5 branching stems, it develops a distinctive form with cobwebby gray hairs that often disappear by flowering time. Its fleshy leaves are linear to slightly elliptic, with 1 to 2 pairs of cylindric lobes, creating a delicate, wispy appearance. The fruit is 5 to 9 millimeters long, topped with a pappus of 8 unequal scales.

Habitat: Generally open loose sand, often in burns

Bloom period: Mar-Jul

Elevation: (100)300-2600 m

Bioregions: s SN, Teh, s SnJV, se SCoRO, SCoRI, n TR, GB, w DMoj

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