Tonestus lyallii

Lyall's tonestus, Lyall's Tonestus

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 2B.3

Lyall's tonestus is a rare (CNPS 2B.3) California native perennial found in the central Klamath Ranges, specifically the Trinity Alps, in meadows, barrens, and rocky sites at elevations of 1,500 to 2,800 meters. Flowering from July to August, this plant produces white ray flowers with green to reddish involucres in compact heads 8 to 11 millimeters wide. Growing with loosely clustered stems 4 to 15 centimeters tall, it forms branched underground caudices with poorly developed taproots. Its leaves are entire, reaching up to 8.5 centimeters long, and spread in a delicate, low-growing pattern across rocky terrain. The fruit is 2.5 to 5.5 millimeters long, glabrous or sparsely hairy, with a pappus matching the length of the disk corolla.

Habitat: Meadows, barrens, rocky sites

Bloom period: Jul-Aug

Elevation: 1500-2800 m

Bioregions: c KR (Trinity Alps)

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