Luina hypoleuca

Little leaf luina

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Native

Little leaf luina is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, and southwestern San Francisco Bay Area in rocky places, cliffs, and mixed-evergreen forest habitats at elevations below 2,100 meters. Flowering from June to September, this plant produces white flowers in heads with 11 to 15 individual flowers, arranged in clusters of 4 to 12 on peduncles 1 to 5 centimeters long. Growing 15 to 60 centimeters tall with erect stems, the plant develops a distinctive foliage pattern with leaves that are nearly sessile and approximately 2 to 6.5 centimeters long. Its leaves are uniquely textured, with smooth upper surfaces and densely white-woolly undersides, creating a soft, contrasting appearance. The flowers feature corollas 8 to 10 millimeters long with erect lobes 1 to 2 millimeters in length, giving the plant a delicate and intricate floral structure.

Habitat: Rocky places, cliffs, sometimes on serpentine; mixed-evergreen forest, riparian

Bloom period: Jun-Sep

Elevation: < 2100 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoR, sw SnFrB

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