Stenotus acaulis

Stemless goldenweed, Stemless Goldenweed

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Native

Stemless goldenweed is a California native perennial found in the northern California Ranges, Sierra Nevada, Great Basin, and Desert Mountains in dry, rocky open scrub, woodland, forest, and alpine areas at elevations of 1,900 to 3,660 meters. Flowering from May to August, this plant produces yellow flowers in small clusters with ray flowers 6 to 12 millimeters long. Growing in dense, mat-like clusters with multiple stems, it forms low-growing clumps across rocky alpine terrain. Its leaves are distinctively linear to widely oblanceolate, ranging from narrow to broadly spoon-shaped, creating a compact and intricate ground-covering appearance. The fruit is either glabrous or densely silky, with a white or tan pappus adding texture to its delicate flowering structure.

Habitat: Dry, rocky open scrub, dry woodland, open forest, alpine

Bloom period: May-Aug

Elevation: 1900-3660 m

Bioregions: CaR, SN, GB, DMtns

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