Heterotheca monarchensis

Monarch goldenaster, Monarch Goldenaster

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.1

Monarch goldenaster is a rare (CNPS 1B.1) California native perennial found in southern Sierra Nevada, specifically in the Kings River canyon, growing on limestone in cracks, ledges, and flats at elevations of 1,000 to 1,900 meters. Flowering from June to October, this plant produces yellow ray flowers 10 to 15 millimeters long with bright yellow disk centers, forming small clusters of 1 to 5 flower heads. Growing 9 to 18 centimeters tall with ascending to erect stems that are densely bristly and sparsely glandular, it has a compact, clustered appearance. Its leaves are distinctive, with lower leaves oblanceolate to obovate, petioled, and wavy, while upper leaves are narrowly oblanceolate and only slightly reduced, all leaves covered in dense appressed hairs. The fruit is 2 to 3.5 millimeters long, with similar characteristics between ray and disk fruits.

Habitat: Cracks, ledges, flats, on limestone

Bloom period: Jun-Oct

Elevation: 1000-1900 m

Bioregions: s SN (Kings River canyon).

California counties: Fresno

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