Helianthella castanea

Diablo helianthella, Diablo Helianthella

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.2

Diablo helianthella is a rare (CNPS 1B.2) California native perennial found in northern Central Coast and northern San Francisco Bay bioregions in open, grassy sites at elevations of 200 to 1,300 meters. Flowering from April to June, this plant produces yellow ray flowers with bright yellow disk centers in large sunflower-like heads up to 4 centimeters in diameter. Growing with stems 10 to 50 centimeters tall that range from smooth to coarsely hairy, it develops distinctive leaf-like outer bracts that curve dramatically around the flower head. Its leaves are elliptic, varying from narrow to wide, with long petioles measuring 2 to 6 centimeters across. The fruit is an obovate seed 8 to 10 millimeters long, often without pappus awns.

Habitat: Open, grassy sites

Bloom period: Apr-Jun

Elevation: 200-1300 m

Bioregions: n CCo, n SnFrB.

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