Chondrilla juncea

Skeleton weed, Skeleton Weed

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Conservation status: Cal-IPC Yes

Skeleton weed is a naturalized perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, Great Valley, central western California, northern southern California, southern Transverse Ranges, and Warner Mountains in pastures and disturbed areas at elevations below 600 meters. Flowering from June to January, this plant produces yellow flowers in small, interrupted spike-like clusters with heads 9 to 12 millimeters long. Growing with coarse stems 40 to 150 centimeters tall, it has bristly stems with downward-pointing hairs in the lower 10 to 15 centimeters. Its basal and lower leaves are wing-petioled, oblong to obovate with irregularly toothed, reflexed lobes, while upper leaves become linear and thread-like. The fruit is cylindrical, 8 to 10 millimeters long, with 5 or more ribs and a 5 to 6 millimeter beak.

Habitat: Pastures, disturbed areas

Bloom period: Jun-Jan

Elevation: < 600 m

Bioregions: KR, CaRH, SNF, SNH, GV, CW, n SCo, s WTR, Wrn

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