Lessingia tenuis

Spring lessingia

Family: Asteraceae · Type: annual · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.3

Spring lessingia is a California native annual herb ranked 4.3 by CNPS, found in coastal bioregions including San Francisco Bay, southern Coastal Ranges, and western Transverse Ranges in chaparral and woodland openings at elevations of 50 to 2,200 meters. Flowering from May to July, this plant produces yellow flowers with a distinctive purple-brown band in the tube, appearing in small clusters with delicate funnel-shaped corollas. Growing with slender stems 2 to 15 centimeters tall, ranging from erect to spreading, with tan to reddish-brown branches that are glandular and sparsely hairy. Its leaves are small, measuring 0.3 to 1.5 centimeters long, ovate in shape and occasionally irregularly toothed or lobed. The tiny fruits are 2 to 3 millimeters long, accompanied by a tan pappus that is longer than the fruit itself.

Habitat: Openings in chaparral, woodland

Bloom period: May-Jul

Elevation: 50-2200 m

Bioregions: SnFrB, SCoR, WTR.

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