Pyrrocoma racemosa var. sessiliflora

Clustered goldenweed

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Native

Clustered goldenweed is a California native perennial found in southeastern Sierra Nevada and Mojave Desert bioregions in dry alkaline flats, saline meadows, and marshes at elevations of 300 to 2,200 meters. Flowering from July to October, this plant produces golden yellow flowers in crowded, spike-like clusters with distinctive pale leathery involucres 5 to 8.5 millimeters wide. Growing with glaucous stems, it forms a distinctive clump with basal leaves that are linear-oblanceolate in shape. Its basal leaves are narrow and elongated, creating a delicate, grass-like appearance against the golden flower heads. The plant's unique involucres feature pale bases with translucent margins and green, recurved tips that add visual complexity to its inflorescence.

Habitat: dry alkaline flats, saline meadows, marshes

Bloom period: Jul-Oct

Elevation: 300-2200 m

Bioregions: se SNE, DMoj

California counties: Inyo, Mono, Kern, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles

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