Psilocarphus oregonus

Oregon woollyheads

Family: Asteraceae · Type: annual · Native

Oregon woollyheads is a California native annual found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, Cascade Range, northern Sierra Nevada, central High Sierra Nevada, Great Valley, Central Western California, and Modoc Plateau in drying clay of vernal pools, drainages, and moist rocky slopes at elevations of 10 to 1,800 meters. Flowering from March to July, this plant produces silvery-white flowers in compact heads 4 to 6 millimeters in diameter, densely covered in silky hairs. Growing with slender stems 2 to 10 centimeters tall, it forms low-growing clusters with a distinctive silvery-white appearance. Its leaves are narrow and linear to oblanceolate, appressed to the flower heads, with the longest leaves 12 to 20 millimeters long and typically 6 to 12 times longer than their width. The tiny fruits are cylindrical and measure 0.6 to 1.2 millimeters long, nestled within the dense, woolly flower clusters.

Habitat: Drying clay of vernal pools, drainages, moist rocky slopes

Bloom period: Mar-Jul

Elevation: 10-1800 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRO, NCoRI, CaR, n SN, c SNH, GV, CW, MP

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