Lasthenia californica subsp. californica

California goldfields, California Goldfields

Family: Asteraceae · Type: annual · Native

California goldfields is a California native annual found in northwestern California (excluding North Coast Ranges), the Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, Central Valley, central western California, southern California Coast, and western Transverse Ranges in many habitats at elevations below 1,500 meters. Flowering from February to June, this plant produces bright yellow ray flowers in heads 5 to 10 millimeters wide with distinctive bell-shaped involucres. Growing with erect or occasionally decumbent stems up to 15 to 25 centimeters tall, it forms delicate fibrous root systems. Its leaves are linear to oblanceolate, 0.8 to 7 centimeters long, with entire margins or occasionally 3 to 5 small teeth, and covered in fine hairs. The fruit is small, less than 3 millimeters long, ranging from black to gray in color.

Habitat: Many habitats

Bloom period: Feb-Jun

Elevation: < 1500 m

Bioregions: NW (exc NCoRH), CaRF, SNF, GV, CW, SCo, WTR

California counties: Contra Costa, Alameda, Lake, Ventura, Tehama, Butte, Marin, Napa, Santa Clara, San Benito, Amador, Solano, Monterey, Humboldt, Calaveras, San Mateo, Tulare, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sonoma, Mendocino, Stanislaus, Trinity, Merced, Sacramento, San Luis Obispo, Tuolumne, Fresno, Madera, Nevada, Mariposa, Yolo, Santa Cruz, Del Norte, San Diego, Inyo, Santa Barbara, Colusa, San Joaquin, Yuba

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