Sanvitalia abertii

Abert's sanvitalia

Family: Asteraceae · Type: annual · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 2B.2

Abert's sanvitalia is a rare (CNPS 2B.2) California native annual found in the southeastern Mojave Desert Mountains, including Clark, Mescal, and New York Mountains, in dry slopes, washes, scrub, and woodland at elevations of 1,450 to 1,750 meters. Flowering from August to October, this plant produces bright yellow ray flowers 2 to 3 millimeters long that dry to a cream color, arranged in small heads. Growing 2 to 29 centimeters tall with spreading or erect stems covered in stiff, appressed hairs, it has a delicate and compact form. Its leaves are sessile or short-petioled, linear to lanceolate, 2 to 5 centimeters long, and have a rough, scabrous texture. The fruit is straw-colored for ray flowers and brown and warty for disk flowers, with distinctive pappus characteristics.

Habitat: dry slopes, washes, scrub, woodland

Bloom period: Aug-Oct

Elevation: 1450-1750 m

Bioregions: se DMtns (Clark, Mescal, New York mtns)

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