Lessingia nana

Dwarf lessingia

Family: Asteraceae · Type: annual · Native

Dwarf lessingia is a California native annual found in northern Sierra Nevada foothills, northern Sacramento Valley, and California Ranges in open areas on plains or slopes, often on clay soil at elevations of 50 to 900 meters. Flowering from June to October, this plant produces white to pale lavender flowers with darker tube color in small tight clusters at stem tips. Growing with decumbent stems 2 to 5 centimeters tall, occasionally reaching 25 centimeters, covered in tan woolly texture. Its lance-shaped leaves are 0.5 to 2.5 centimeters long, entire to slightly toothed, with sunken glands obscured by dense persistent wool. The fruit is 2 to 3 millimeters long with a distinctive pink to red pappus.

Habitat: Open areas on plains or slopes, often on clay soil

Bloom period: Jun-Oct

Elevation: 50-900 m

Bioregions: CaRF, n&ampc SNF, n ScV.

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