Deinandra conjugens

Otay tarplant

Family: Asteraceae · Type: annual · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.1 · Threatened

Otay tarplant is a rare (CNPS 1B.1) California native annual found in southern Southern California Coast and western Peninsular Ranges in San Diego County, growing in coastal scrub and grassland openings on clayey soils at elevations of 20 to 300 meters. Flowering from April to June, this plant produces deep yellow ray flowers 3 to 6 millimeters long with distinctive yellow disk flowers featuring red to dark purple anthers. Growing 10 to 50 centimeters tall with an open, branching habit, it develops slender stems with coarse hairs. Its lower leaves are pinnately lobed or toothed, with proximal leaves showing rough, somewhat dense hairiness. The plant's flower heads form distinctive panicle-like clusters with phyllaries that are unevenly covered with variable-sized glandular hairs.

Habitat: Clayey soils of coastal scrub openings, grassland

Bloom period: Apr-Jun

Elevation: 20-300 m

Bioregions: s SCo, w PR (San Diego Co.)

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