Pyrrocoma carthamoides var. cusickii

Large-flowered goldenweed, Large-Flowered Goldenweed

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Native

Large-flowered goldenweed is a California native perennial found in the northern Sierra Nevada Mountains and Modoc Plateau in barren rocky areas and lava fields at elevations of 900 to 2,800 meters. Flowering from June to September, this plant produces yellow flower heads with ray flowers 2 to 7 millimeters long clustered in raceme-like arrangements. Growing with stems 6 to 43 centimeters tall, it develops an upright, somewhat branching habit with glandular-puberulent surfaces. Its leaves are narrowly lanceolate, 5 to 21 centimeters long, with margins ranging from nearly entire to spiny-serrate and a slightly hairy texture. The fruit is 3 to 5.5 millimeters long, distinctively 4-angled with a tan to red-brown pappus 6 to 9 millimeters long.

Habitat: Barren rocky areas, lava fields

Bloom period: Jun-Sep

Elevation: 900-2800 m

Bioregions: CaRH, n SNH, MP

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