Eclipta prostrata

False daisy

Family: Asteraceae · Type: annual · Native

False daisy is a California native annual found in the Great Valley, southern Coast Ranges, southwestern California, and desert regions in damp places at elevations below 1,350 meters. Flowering all year, this plant produces white flowers in heads approximately 4 to 10 millimeters wide with delicate ray and disk florets. Growing with spreading to ascending stems 10 to 100 centimeters tall that are somewhat strigose throughout, it has a distinctive branching habit. Its leaves are narrow, 2 to 10 centimeters long, linear to lanceolate with acute tips, ranging from entire to slightly toothed. Small obovate fruits measuring 1.7 to 2.2 millimeters develop with a minimal pappus less than 0.2 millimeters long.

Habitat: Damp places

Bloom period: All year

Elevation: < 1350 m

Bioregions: GV, SCoR, SW, DSon

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