Iva hayesiana

San diego marsh-elder, San Diego Marsh-Elder

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 2B.2

San diego marsh-elder is a rare (CNPS 2B.2) California native perennial found in southern Southern California Coast and southwestern Peninsular Ranges in alkaline flats, depressions, and streambanks at elevations below 300 meters. Flowering from March to September, this plant produces small greenish to white flowers in compact clusters with green outer phyllaries. Growing as a sprawling to erect herb up to one meter tall with glandular stems, it develops a distinctive branching structure. Its leaves are lance-elliptic to oblanceolate, 2 to 5 centimeters long, sparsely hairy with gland-dotted surfaces and narrow blades 5 to 10 millimeters wide. The plant's small fruits are approximately 2 to 2.5 millimeters long, characteristic of its marsh-dwelling adaptation.

Habitat: Alkaline flats, depressions, streambanks

Bloom period: Mar-Sep

Elevation: < 300(900) m

Bioregions: s SCo, sw PR (sw San Diego Co.)

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