Malacothrix sonchoides

Sow thistle malacothrix

Family: Asteraceae · Type: annual · Native

Sow thistle malacothrix is a California native annual found in the eastern Sierra Nevada and Mojave Desert in sandy dune habitats and Joshua-tree woodlands at elevations below 1,400 meters. Flowering from April to June, this plant produces bright yellow flowers with ligules extending 6 to 10 millimeters, arranged in open clusters. Growing with multiple ascending to erect stems up to 50 centimeters tall, it branches throughout and appears slightly glaucous. Its basal leaves form a spreading flat rosette with widely lobed margins featuring minute, soft spine-like teeth, while cauline leaves are fleshy with 3 to 8 pairs of oblong to triangular lobes. The plant produces small fruits 1.8 to 3 millimeters long with a scarious, rounded-toothed crown.

Habitat: On dunes or in deep, fine sandy soils in arroyos, plains in Joshua-tree woodland, grassland

Bloom period: Apr-Jun

Elevation: < 1400 m

Bioregions: SNE, DMoj

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