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coastal goldfields

Habit Annuals, to 35 cm (herbage not sweetly scented).
Stems

erect, branched distally, ± woolly, especially distally.

Leaves

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.

Involucres

hemispheric, 4–6 mm.

Receptacles

conic, muricate, glabrous.

Ray florets

(8–)13; (corollas light to golden yellow) laminae oblong, 4–8 mm.

Phyllaries

7–14, oblong to ovate, hairy (especially at margins).

Cypselae

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.

Anther

appendages ovate or elliptic, acute (style apices ± deltate with apical tufts of hairs and subapical fringes of shorter hairs).

2n

= 8.

Lasthenia minor

Phenology Flowering Mar–Jun.
Habitat Grasslands, coastal and inland
Elevation 0–700 m (0–2300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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.)

Source FNA vol. 21, p. 347.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Heliantheae > subtribe Baeriinae > Lasthenia > sect. Ptilomeris
Sibling taxa
L. burkei, L. californica, L. chrysantha, L. conjugens, L. coronaria, L. debilis, L. ferrisiae, L. fremontii, L. glaberrima, L. glabrata, L. gracilis, L. leptalea, L. maritima, L. microglossa, L. ornduffii, L. platycarpha
Synonyms Monolopia minor, Baeria minor
Name authority (de Candolle) Ornduff: Univ. Calif. Publ. Bot. 40: 80. (1966)
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