Lasthenia californica
Lasthenia minor
California goldfields, goldfields, slender goldfields
coastal goldfields
erect or decumbent, branched proximally or distally, ± hairy.
erect, branched distally, ± woolly, especially 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.
broadly to narrowly linear, 20–120 × 1–10 mm, margins entire or irregularly toothed or lobed (lobes to 1.5 mm), faces glabrous or villous.
campanulate to depressed-hemispheric or hemispheric, 5–14 mm.
hemispheric, 4–6 mm.
conic, muricate, glabrous.
conic, muricate, glabrous.
6–16;
laminae linear to oblong, 5–18 mm.
(8–)13; (corollas light to golden yellow) laminae oblong, 4–8 mm.
(persistent or falling with cypselae) 4–16 (in 1–2 series), elliptic to ovate or lanceolate to oblong, hairy.
7–14, oblong to ovate, hairy (especially at margins).
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.
black, narrowly clavate, 2–2.5 mm, glabrous or hairy;
pappi 0, or of 2–3(–4) brown or white, lanceolate or subulate, aristate scales plus 4–5+ shorter, ± truncate, fimbriate scales.
appendages deltate to sublanceolate.
appendages ovate or elliptic, acute (style apices ± deltate with apical tufts of hairs and subapical fringes of shorter hairs).
= 8.
Lasthenia californica
Lasthenia minor
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 minor is variable; coastal plants tend to have lower stature and broader leaves and tend to flower later in the year. Inland populations were once common in the San Joaquin Valley and are now harder to find as grasslands become cultivated, grazed, or built upon. Epappose plants are common and sometimes comprise entire populations.
(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 |
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