Scientific Family
Asteraceae
Synonyms
Stephanomeria tenuifolia
Plant type
Forbs and Subshrubs
Origin
Native
Lifecycle
Perennial
Height
16 to 24 inches
Riparian
No
Perennial herb with many multibranched, slender, smooth stems. Plant contains milky sap.
Achenes are truncate at their bases; flowerhead bracts are not in a graduated series, but often have a shorter outer series; bases of ray flowers have plumose bristles and typically number 5 but may number 3 to 9.
Habitat
Found along roadsides and dry washes, on rocky slopes and in sandy clearings.
Plant Community
Pinyon Juniper Woodlands
Montane Conifer Forest
Interior Chaparral
Grasslands
Disturbed Areas
Low elevation
4000
High elevation
8000
Flower Characteristics
Flowerheads at stem tips are solitary and have only 5 ray flowers. Ray flowers are toothed at the edges.
Flower color
White to pinkish
Flower shape
Daisy or dandelion-like
Tubular
No
First bloom month
May
Last bloom month
December
Flower clusters
None
Leaf and Stem Characteristics
Leaves are alternate and linear, deeply lobed to pinnatifid below and reduced and scale-like in the upper parts of the stems. The plant is a mound of many multibranched stems that are flexible, slender, and smooth.
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf color
Green
Leaf shape
Narrow
Leaf margin
Lobed
Leaves clasp
Yes
Leaf hairs
None
Spines
No
Fruit and Seed Characteristics
Fruit type
Achene
Fruit color
Brown
Achenes are longitudinally ribbed in sections of 5 and grooved but otherwise smooth.