Gamochaeta stagnalis

Family: Asteraceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Gamochaeta stagnalis is a naturalized annual found in southern California coastal and peninsula regions in disturbed, often moist areas at elevations below 300 meters. Flowering from March to April, this plant produces whitish flowers with purple-tipped corollas in small head clusters 8 to 12 millimeters wide. Growing with erect to decumbent stems 2.5 to 20 centimeters tall, it is densely covered in cobwebby-like tomentose hairs. Its leaves are oblanceolate to oblong-oblanceolate, 1 to 2.5 centimeters long, with both surfaces loosely tomentose and gradually becoming less hairy with age. The small heads are subtended by leaf-like bracts, with involucre phyllaries arranged in 3 to 4 series and inner phyllaries often appearing purple and white.

Habitat: Disturbed areas, often moist

Bloom period: Mar-Apr

Elevation: < 300 m

Bioregions: SCo, PR

California counties: San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange

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