Lessingia nemaclada

Slender stemmed lessingia

Family: Asteraceae · Type: annual · Native

Slender stemmed lessingia is a California native annual found in northwestern California, Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, Central Valley, San Francisco Bay Area, and southern coastal ranges in open fields, roadsides, and woodland borders at elevations of 50 to 2,100 meters. Flowering from July to October, this plant produces white to pale lavender flowers with darker tube color in small clusters. Growing with erect, branching stems 5 to 60 centimeters tall that range from tan to brown and can be sparsely hairy or glandular. Its cauline leaves are small, 0.2 to 3 centimeters long, lanceolate, and often feature sunken or stalked glands. The flower heads have distinctive lanceolate phyllaries with purple-tipped edges, creating a delicate and intricate appearance.

Habitat: Open fields, roadsides, woodland borders, occasionally on serpentine soil

Bloom period: Jul-Oct

Elevation: 50-2100 m

Bioregions: NW, CaR, SN, GV, SnFrB, SCoRI.

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