Ericameria linearifolia
Interior goldenbush
Photo by Chez Brungraber
Family: Asteraceae · Type: Shrub · Native
Ericameria linearifolia (Interior goldenbush) is a native California shrub in the Asteraceae family, recognized by large solitary heads on long peduncles.
Interior goldenbush is a California native shrub found in northern and central California regions including the Sierra Nevada foothills, Tehachapi, Sutter Buttes, southern San Joaquin Valley, Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges, Mojave Desert, and western Colorado Desert in dry slopes, valleys, foothill and desert woodland at elevations up to 2,000 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces bright yellow flowers in radiate heads approximately 1 centimeter wide, with 12 to 18 ray flowers. Growing 40 to 150 centimeters tall with glabrous to slightly puberulent resinous stems, it develops an open, spreading form. Its leaves are distinctively narrow and linear, 10 to 55 millimeters long, with an acute tip and gland-dotted base. The fruit is compressed, 4 to 5 millimeters long, covered in dense silky hairs with a white pappus.
Identification and appearance
Key characters: 32 sympatric species; large solitary heads on long peduncles
Habitat and range
Habitat: dry slopes, valleys, foothill and desert woodland, saltbush and creosote-bush scrub
Elevation: < 2000 m
Outside California: to southwestern Utah, western Arizona, northern Baja California, southwestern Colorado?
Bloom period
Ericameria linearifolia blooms Mar-May.
How to tell it apart
vs Isocoma: Ericameria has bracts in 5 vertical rows; Isocoma has randomly arranged bracts.; vs Chrysothamnus: Ericameria has woolly young stems and deep pitted glands; Chrysothamnus has smooth/slightly fuzzy stems and surface glands or none.; vs Baccharis: Ericameria has yellow bisexual flowers in each head; Baccharis has separate male/female plants with whitish flowers.; vs Artemisia: Ericameria has yellow flowers and gland-dotted leaves; Artemisia has greenish flowers and aromatic gray-hairy leaves.; vs Lepidospartum: Ericameria has small narrow leaves; Lepidospartum has scale-like leaves on green rush-like stems.
Frequently asked questions
Is Ericameria linearifolia native to California?
Yes. Ericameria linearifolia is native to California (recorded as native).
When does Ericameria linearifolia bloom?
Ericameria linearifolia blooms Mar-May.
What plant family does Ericameria linearifolia belong to?
Ericameria linearifolia is in the Asteraceae family, genus Ericameria.
What habitat does Ericameria linearifolia grow in?
Ericameria linearifolia grows in dry slopes, valleys, foothill and desert woodland, saltbush and creosote-bush scrub.
Related species
Other California species in the same genus, family, or bioregion.
- Ericameria nana — Dwarf goldenbush
- Ericameria nauseosa — Rubber rabbitbrush
- Ericameria nauseosa var. bernardina — Bernardina rabbitbrush
- Ericameria nauseosa var. ceruminosa — Desert rabbitbrush
- Ericameria nauseosa var. hololeuca — White rabbitbrush
- Ericameria nauseosa var. leiosperma — Smooth-fruit rabbitbrush
Sources: Jepson eFlora · Index of California Plant Names · CalPhotos
Last updated 2026-10-07
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Cal-IPC, and more.