Layia fremontii

Fremont layia

Family: Asteraceae · Type: annual · Native

Fremont layia is a California native annual found in central coastal ranges, Sierra Nevada foothills, Great Valley, and Mendocino County in grassy or open habitats with heavy or shallow soils, including serpentine areas at elevations below 800 meters. Flowering from February to May, this plant produces ray flowers with yellow bases and white to light-yellow tips, set against white and dark purple disk flowers. Growing less than 40 centimeters tall with glandless stems, it displays linear to lanceolate leaves often divided near the midvein. Its leaves measure up to 7 centimeters long, with proximal leaves potentially having up to 30 divisions. The fruit features ray flowers that are glabrous with a pappus of 9 to 12 white to brownish scales, each 2 to 5 millimeters long with long-tapered tips.

Habitat: Grassy or open, heavy or shallow soil, including serpentine

Bloom period: Feb-May

Elevation: < 800 m

Bioregions: c NCoRO (rare, Mendocino Co.), CaRF, SNF, GV.

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