Ericameria arborescens

Golden-fleece

Family: Asteraceae · Type: shrub · Native

Golden-fleece is a California native shrub found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, Sierra Nevada Foothills, southern Sierra Nevada, San Francisco Bay Area, southern Coast Ranges, and Transverse Ranges in woodland, open forest, and chaparral at elevations generally below 1,700 meters. Flowering from August to November, this plant produces yellow flowers in dense, flat-topped clusters at branch tips. Growing up to 5 meters tall with a dense, rounded, leafy crown, it forms a distinctive rounded shape with glabrous or sparsely hairy stems. Its leaves are thread-like to linear, 25 to 90 millimeters long, with sparse gland-dotted pits and acute tips. The fruit is 2 to 3 millimeters long, narrowly top-shaped, and covered in dense appressed hairs.

Habitat: Woodland, open forest, chaparral, especially after fire

Bloom period: Aug-Nov

Elevation: generally < 1700 m (< 2900 m in SNH)

Bioregions: KR, NCoR, SNF, s SNH, SnFrB, SCoR, WTR.

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