Stephanomeria cichoriacea

Silver rock-lettuce, chicoryleaf wire-lettuce, Chicoryleaf Wire-Lettuce

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Native

Silver rock-lettuce is a California native perennial found in southern coastal ranges, coastal southern California, Channel Islands, Transverse Ranges, and Peninsular Ranges in rock faces, coastal scrub, and chaparral at elevations below 1,500 meters. Flowering from May to November, this plant produces pink to lavender flowers in small heads 12 to 15 millimeters long. Growing with erect stems 40 to 100 centimeters tall, it emerges from a large, branched woody base with one to many rosettes and stems covered in soft, woolly hairs. Its basal leaves are 10 to 20 centimeters long, narrowly lanceolate to spoon-shaped, with entire or toothed edges and a dense, fuzzy texture that is especially prominent when young. The fruit is 5 to 6 millimeters long with smooth surfaces and white to pale brown feathery pappus bristles.

Habitat: rock faces, coastal scrub, chaparral

Bloom period: May-Nov

Elevation: < 1500 m

Bioregions: SCoR, SCo, ChI, TR, PR.

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