Scientific Family
Asteraceae
Synonyms
Riddellia tagetina var. sparsiflora
Plant type
Forbs and Subshrubs
Origin
Native
Lifecycle
Biennial or perennial
Height
6 to 16 inches
Riparian
No
Stems single or clustered at base from branched or unbranched caudex (old part of stem); stems and leaves hairy; basal leaves often laciniate (narrow, irregular lobes); flower heads yellow, showy; rarely flowering first year.
Stems often hairy, greenish, sometimes long, soft, shaggy hairs in axils; basal leaves wither with age, narrow to spatula-like, smooth or lobed margins; stem leaves similar, reduced in size; ray and disc flowers yellow; ray flowers bent downward in fruit.
Habitat
Dry mesas and slopes, often in grasslands, pinyon-juniper, open pine forests and higher elevation woodlands.
Plant Community
Pinyon Juniper Woodlands
Montane Conifer Forest
Interior Chaparral
Grasslands
Low elevation
4500
High elevation
7500
Flower Characteristics
Arranged in groups of 3 to 6 in loose clusters; flower head cylindric to bell-shaped, 1/4 inch, ray petals yellow, wider than long, bent backward in fruit, 3-lobed; disc florets 7 to 9 per flower head; bracts loosely woolly in 1 to 2 sub-equal layers.
Flower color
Yellow
Flower shape
Regular
Tubular
No
First bloom month
May
Last bloom month
November
Flower clusters
Elongated
Leaf and Stem Characteristics
Basal leaves narrow on long stalk, to 4 inches long, smooth or occasionally lobed margins, often laciniate (narrow, irregular lobes), loosely hairy, withering with age; stem leaves similar but reduced in size, alternate, stalkless, narrow, less hairy.
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf color
Green
Leaf shape
Narrow
Leaf margin
Smooth
Leaves clasp
No
Leaf hairs
Leaves & stems
Spines
No
Fruit and Seed Characteristics
Achenes narrow, usually smooth, sometimes gland-dotted; topped with a pappus of unequal narrow scales, these half as long as disc flowers.
Fruit type
Achene