Packera eurycephala var. eurycephala

Widehead groundsel

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Native

Widehead groundsel is a California native perennial found in northwestern California, the Cascade Range, northern Sierra Nevada, and Modoc Plateau in dry disturbed sites, wooded areas, and dry streambeds at elevations of 200 to 1,700 meters. Flowering from May to June, this plant produces yellow flowers in heads with dense clusters of ray and disk flowers. Growing with one to six erect stems 15 to 45 centimeters tall that are initially covered in white woolly hairs and becoming smoother with age, it develops a somewhat upright underground stem. Its leaves have irregularly toothed edges with winged midribs, ranging from basal rosette leaves to stem leaves that become smaller and less divided upward. The plant forms distinctive clusters of bright yellow flowers in open, spreading arrangements typical of groundsel species.

Habitat: Common. Dry disturbed sites, wooded areas, dry or drying streambeds

Bloom period: May-Jun

Elevation: 200-1700 m

Bioregions: NW, CaR, n SNH, MP

California counties: Modoc, Shasta, Lake, Monterey, Napa, Lassen, Sonoma, Colusa, Plumas, Butte, Yuba, Alameda, Yolo, Mendocino

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