Lasthenia californica

California goldfields

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Native

California goldfields is a California native perennial found in low-elevation grasslands and coastal areas. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces bright yellow flowers in small heads with dark red centers when viewed in alkali solution. Growing with erect or decumbent stems up to 40 centimeters tall, it forms freely branched clusters that are lightly hairy. Its leaves range from 0.8 to 21 centimeters long, linear to oblanceolate in shape, with occasional small teeth and a slightly fleshy texture in coastal populations. The fruit is small, less than 4 millimeters long, and ranges from black to silver-gray in color.

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