Stebbinsoseris heterocarpa

Grassland silverpuffs, Grassland Silverpuffs

Family: Asteraceae · Type: annual · Native

Grassland silverpuffs is a California native annual found in the North Coast Ranges, Sierra Nevada Foothills, Central Valley, Central Western California, Southern California Coast, Channel Islands, Western Transverse Ranges, and Peninsular Ranges in open, sometimes disturbed sites with rocky to clay soils at elevations below 1,700 meters. Flowering from April to June, this plant produces yellow or white ray flowers in delicate heads 6 to 30 millimeters long. Growing with slender stems 8 to 60 centimeters tall, it spreads across open landscapes with a graceful, airy structure. Its leaves reach 5 to 35 centimeters long, varying from basal to cauline with a delicate, spreading arrangement. The fruit features a distinctive pappus with scales that can be shorter or longer than the fruit itself, topped with a 3 to 8 millimeter bristle arising from a notched scale tip.

Habitat: Open, sometimes disturbed sites, rocky to clay soils, generally inland except SCo

Bloom period: Apr-Jun

Elevation: < 1700 m

Bioregions: NCoR, SNF, GV (rare), CW, SCo, ChI, WTR, PR

California counties: Orange, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Alameda, Los Angeles, Contra Costa, Kern, San Diego, Ventura, Riverside, Butte, Colusa, Sacramento, San Benito, San Bernardino, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Sonoma, Yolo, Marin, Monterey, Santa Clara, Merced, Napa, Santa Cruz, Stanislaus, Amador, Madera, San Francisco, Solano, Fresno

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