Packera pseudaurea var. pseudaurea

False-gold groundsel

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Native

False-gold groundsel is a California native perennial found in the Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, and Warner Mountains in damp streambanks, wet meadows, and open woodland at elevations of 1,500 to 2,000 meters. Flowering from June to July, this plant produces yellow ray flowers 6 to 10 millimeters long in radiate heads with 12 to 20 clusters. Growing 5 to 7 tall with a single stem or rarely up to 4 clustered stems that are glabrous or sparsely tomentose. Its basal leaves are widely lanceolate to nearly hastate, 2 to 5 centimeters long with sharply dentate margins, truncate or heart-shaped at the base. The inflorescence features 70 to 80 disk flowers surrounded by 8 to 13 ray flowers in an open, nearly flat-topped cluster with light green phyllaries.

Habitat: Damp streambanks, wet meadows, open, wet woodland

Bloom period: Jun-Jul

Elevation: 1500-2000 m

Bioregions: CaRH, SN, Wrn

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