Wyethia helenioides

Gray mule ears

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Native

Gray mule ears is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern and central Sierra Nevada, Sutter Buttes, San Joaquin Valley, and Coast Ranges in open grasslands, woodlands, and scrub at elevations below 2,000 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces yellow ray flowers 20 to 50 millimeters long with distinctive leaf-like outer phyllaries that spread widely. Growing 20 to 70 centimeters tall with densely tomentose stems that become nearly smooth with age, it develops robust and prominent growth. Its basal leaves are large, measuring 25 to 45 centimeters long, elliptic to oblong-ovate, initially covered in dense woolly hair but gradually becoming smoother. The fruit develops 12 to 15 millimeters long with small hairy pappus scales.

Habitat: Open grassland, woodland, scrub

Bloom period: Mar-May(Aug)

Elevation: < 2000 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoR, CaRF, n&ampc SN, ScV (Sutter Buttes), SnJV, CW.

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