Urospermum picroides

Bristly tail seed

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Bristly tail seed is a naturalized perennial found in northern Sierra Nevada foothills, northern Central Coast, San Francisco Bay Area, southern California, and southern Transverse Ranges in disturbed places at elevations below 400 meters. Flowering from April to July, this plant produces yellow flowers in heads 1.3 to 2.2 centimeters long with widely lanceolate phyllaries. Growing with stems 10 to 40 centimeters tall, covered in long hairs and slender spine-like bristles, it has an erect and somewhat branching habit. Its lower leaves taper to the base while upper leaves are sessile and clasping, with toothed or lobed blades showing variation along the stem. The fruit is 11 to 14 millimeters long with a beak longer than its body.

Habitat: Uncommon. Disturbed places

Bloom period: Apr-Jul

Elevation: < 400 m

Bioregions: n SNF, n CCo, SnFrB, SCo, s WTR

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