Malacothrix coulteri

Snake's-head

Family: Asteraceae · Type: annual · Native

Snake's-head is a California native annual found in the San Joaquin Valley, central western California, northern Channel Islands, western Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges, Southeastern Sierra Nevada, eastern Mojave Desert, and northern Sonoran Desert in sandy, open areas of coastal sage scrub, grassland, and desert habitats at elevations below 1,500 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces pale yellow to white flowers in heads 10 to 22 millimeters wide, with ligules extending 2 to 12 millimeters from the spheric involucre. Growing with ascending or erect stems up to 75 centimeters tall, the plant can be simple or slightly branched with a glaucous appearance. Its leaves are distinctive, with basal leaves that are fleshy and lance-linear to ovate, featuring wavy lobes, while lower leaves are often lanceolate and toothed or deeply divided. The fruit is small, 1.6 to 3.2 millimeters long, with prominent ribs and uneven outer pappus teeth.

Habitat: Sandy, open areas, in coastal-sage scrub, grassland, desert

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: < 1500 m

Bioregions: SnJV, CW, n ChI (extirpated), WTR, PR, SNE, DMoj, n DSon

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