Packera subnuda var. subnuda
Cleftleaf groundsel
Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Native
Cleftleaf groundsel is a California native perennial found in northern and central Sierra Nevada Mountains and Modoc Plateau in damp or marshy meadows, lakeshores, and streambanks at elevations of 1,500 to 3,000 meters. Flowering from June to September, this plant produces white ray flowers 7 to 12 millimeters long with yellow disk centers arranged in radiate heads. Growing 10 to 30 centimeters tall with glabrous stems emerging from a creeping slender caudex, it has a solitary or occasionally clustered growth habit. Its basal leaves are distinctive, measuring 2 to 4 centimeters long and 1 to 3 centimeters wide, with ovate to obovate shapes that are nearly entire or slightly toothed along the edges. The plant produces numerous disk flowers, typically 40 to 55 in each flower head, with green phyllaries that are sometimes tinged red at the tips.
Habitat: Uncommon. Damp or marshy meadows, lakeshores, streambanks
Bloom period: Jun-Sep
Elevation: 1500-3000 m
Bioregions: CaRH, n&c SNH, MP
California counties: Mono, Tuolumne, Butte, Plumas, Alpine, Mariposa, Lassen, Tehama, Modoc, Nevada, Tulare
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.