Xanthisma gracile

Annual bristleweed

Family: Asteraceae · Type: annual · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.3

Annual bristleweed is a native annual herb found in the eastern Mojave Desert in sandy, clay, or rocky desert woodland and scrub habitats at elevations of 900 to 1,550 meters. Flowering from April to September, this plant produces bright yellow ray flowers 7 to 12 millimeters long in delicate heads with white and red-brown bristly edges. Growing with erect, slender stems 3 to 25 centimeters tall that are bristly throughout and branched at or above the base, it has a distinctive open, wispy structure. Its leaves are 1 to 3 centimeters long with 3 to 7 millimeter width, typically pinnately lobed with oblanceolate or elliptic shapes and appressed hairs. The fruit is 2.2 to 2.8 millimeters long, covered in fine white to canescent hairs.

Habitat: Sandy, clay, or rocky places, desert woodland or scrub

Bloom period: Apr-Sep

Elevation: 900-1550 m

Bioregions: e DMoj

California counties: San Bernardino

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