Dittrichia viscosa

False yellowhead, False Yellowhead

Family: Asteraceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Conservation status: Cal-IPC Yes

False yellowhead is a naturalized annual found in the central Coast and southwest Santa Clara Valley regions along roadsides, disturbed places, and creeksides at elevations around 43 meters. Flowering from September to November, this plant produces yellow flowers in heads with 12 to 18 ray flowers and 25 to 40 disk flowers. Growing 4 to 13 decimeters tall with multiple branched, woody stems emerging near the base, it develops an erect, multi-stemmed structure. Its cauline leaves are lanceolate to oblanceolate, 4 to 6 centimeters long and 6 to 13 millimeters wide, with scattered teeth on lower leaves and nearly smooth edges on upper leaves. The fruit is approximately 2 millimeters long with 15 to 20 pappus bristles measuring 4 to 6 millimeters.

Habitat: roadsides, disturbed places, creeksides

Bloom period: Sep-Nov

Elevation: +- 43 m.

Bioregions: CCo/ScV (sw of I-80/I-680 interchange), expected elsewhere

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