Helenium amarum var. amarum

Yellowdicks

Family: Asteraceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Yellowdicks is a naturalized annual found in the San Joaquin Valley and San Francisco Bay Area bioregions in disturbed areas and fields at elevations of 20 to 400 meters. Flowering from July to October, this plant produces yellow flowers in heads 5 to 9 millimeters long, with 8 to 10 ray flowers and 75 to 150 disk flowers. Growing 20 to 60 centimeters tall with multiple branching stems that are glabrous or sparsely hairy, it develops numerous flower heads across disturbed landscapes. Its leaves are primarily linear, with basal leaves that may be entire or pinnately toothed and cauline leaves typically narrow and entire. The fruit is small, approximately 1 to 1.3 millimeters long, with 6 to 8 pappus scales that have awn-like tips.

Habitat: Disturbed areas, fields

Bloom period: Jul-Oct

Elevation: 20-400 m

Bioregions: SnJV, SnFrB

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