Osmadenia tenella

Osmadenia, Osmadenia

Family: Asteraceae · Type: annual · Native

Osmadenia is a California native annual herb found in southwestern California (excluding the Channel Islands) in coastal sage scrub, grassland, and oak savanna at elevations of 30 to 1,200 meters. Flowering from May to July, this plant produces white flowers that age to reddish tones, with ray flowers deeply three-lobed and occasionally displaying red splotches. Growing 20 to 40 centimeters tall with multiple thread-like spreading branches, it features strongly scented stems that are densely glandular and slightly rough. Its leaves are primarily linear and cauline, alternately arranged, with basal leaves 2 to 5 centimeters long that are scabrous and glandular with shaggy margins. The plant produces numerous small heads arranged in loose, cyme-like clusters with distinctive white ray flowers that transition to reddish hues as they mature.

Habitat: Locally common. Barren, often rocky, sandy soils, coastal-sage scrub, grassland, oak savanna

Bloom period: May-Jul

Elevation: 30-1200 m

Bioregions: SW (exc ChI)

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