Deinandra pallida

Kern tarweed

Family: Asteraceae · Type: annual · Native

Kern tarweed is a California native annual found in southern Sierra Nevada Foothills, Tehachapi, southern San Joaquin Valley, and southern Coast Ranges in grasslands, open scrub, and woodland habitats at elevations of 70 to 1,100 meters. Flowering from March to July, this plant produces pale yellow ray flowers 6 to 12 millimeters long in crowded, flat-topped clusters. Growing 0.9 to 10 decimeters tall with solid or hollow stems, it displays coarse-hairy leaves that are pinnately lobed or toothed. Its lower leaves are particularly distinctive, with rough hairs and occasional glandular stalks that give the plant a rugged texture. The flower heads feature 8 to 12 pale yellow ray flowers and 10 to 21 disk flowers with yellow or brownish anthers.

Habitat: Grassland, open scrub and woodland, disturbed sites, often in +- alkaline soils

Bloom period: Mar-Jul

Elevation: 70-1100 m

Bioregions: s SNF, Teh, s SnJV, s SCoRI.

California counties: Kern, Santa Barbara, Tulare, Fresno, Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, Tuolumne

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