Lasthenia californica
Lasthenia leptalea
California goldfields, goldfields, slender goldfields
Salinas Valley goldfields
erect or decumbent, branched proximally or distally, ± hairy.
erect (peduncles sometimes sinuous), branched distally, glabrous proximally, villous distally.
linear to oblanceolate or oblong, 8–210 × 1–5.5(–15) mm, (± fleshy in coastal forms) margins entire or with 3–5+ teeth, faces glabrous or ± hairy.
linear, 3–20 × 0.5–1 mm, (± fleshy) margins entire, faces sparsely hairy.
campanulate to depressed-hemispheric or hemispheric, 5–14 mm.
obconic to campanulate, 4–6 mm.
conic, muricate, glabrous.
subulate, papillate, glabrous.
6–16;
laminae linear to oblong, 5–18 mm.
6–9;
corolla laminae broadly elliptic, 2.5–5 mm.
(persistent or falling with cypselae) 4–16 (in 1–2 series), elliptic to ovate or lanceolate to oblong, hairy.
(± persistent) usually 4–6 (in 1 series), elliptic to ovate, glabrous but for hairy apices.
black to gray or silver-gray, linear to narrowly clavate, to 4 mm, glabrous or hairy;
pappi 0, or of 1–7 translucent (rarely opaque), brown (rarely white), linear to subulate, aristate scales.
gray, narrowly clavate, to 2 mm, sparsely hairy;
pappi usually of 1–4 translucent, white to yellowish, subulate, aristate scales (sometimes 0 in some florets within heads).
appendages deltate to sublanceolate.
appendages subulate.
= 16.
Lasthenia californica
Lasthenia leptalea
Subspecies 3 (3 in the flora).
Plants of Lasthenia californica, especially those in coastal populations, have the largest, showiest heads in the genus. Report of L. californica from Massachusetts was not confirmed for this study
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Lasthenia leptalea grows in southern Monterey and northern San Luis Obispo counties. Originally assigned by R. Ornduff (1966b) to sect. Burrielia, L. leptalea is morphologically similar to L. gracilis, from which it can be distinguished by its subulate anther appendages and phyllaries that are hairy only at their tips.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Annuals; coastal or inland; n California, s Oregon | subsp. californica |
1. Perennials (sometimes flowering first year); coastal; California | → 2 |
2. Roots fleshy, clustered; stems erect, branched distally; leaf blades 1–2+ mm wide | subsp. bakeri |
2. Roots usually not fleshy or clustered; stems decumbent, branched proximally; leaf blades 1.5–5.5(–15) mm wide | subsp. macrantha |
CA
OR
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
