Hulsea vestita subsp. pygmaea

Pygmy hulsea, Pygmy Hulsea

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.3

Pygmy hulsea is a rare (CNPS 1B.3) California native perennial found in southern Sierra Nevada and San Bernardino Mountains on open gravel, talus slopes, and alpine barrens at elevations of 3,200 to 3,900 meters. Flowering from June to October, this diminutive plant produces ray flowers 5 to 8 millimeters long in deep red-orange colors with distinctive red-purple phyllary bracts. Growing less than 10 centimeters tall with nearly leafless stems, it forms a compact alpine plant. Its basal leaves are distinctively lobed, with petioles approximately equal in length to the blade, and covered with glandular hairs on the undersurface. The plant's extremely small stature and vibrant red-orange flowers make it a striking alpine species adapted to harsh, high-elevation environments.

Habitat: Open gravel, talus slopes, subalpine forest, alpine barrens

Bloom period: Jun-Oct

Elevation: 3200-3900 m

Bioregions: s SNH, SnBr.

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