Woolly Desertdandelion

Malacothrix floccifera grows in the Transverse Ranges in Ventura County, in the Coast Ranges to Siskiyou County, on foothills and slopes of Sierra Nevada from Lassen County to Fresno County, and in western Nevada, near Lake Tahoe.

Annuals, 10–40 cm. Stems 1–8, simple or branched proximally and/or distally, glabrous or proximally puberulent. Cauline leaves: proximal oblanceolate to obovate, usually pinnately lobed (lobes 4–6+ pairs, ± equal, apices obtuse), ± fleshy, ultimate margins dentate, abaxial faces usually white-arachnose (usually in patches on lobes); distal reduced (pinnately lobed or dentate proximally, lobes obtuse). Calyculi of 3–8+, ovate to lanceolate bractlets, hyaline margins 0.1–0.3 mm wide. Involucres campanulate, 5–7(–9) × 2.5–4(–5) mm. Phyllaries 13–21+ in 2–3 series, oblong or lanceolate to linear, hyaline margins 0.05–0.2 mm wide, faces glabrous. Receptacles bristly. Florets 21–60; corollas white or yellow (usually with abaxial lavender stripes), 7–15 mm; outer ligules exserted 5–9 mm. Cypselae ± cylindric to prismatic, 1.2–2 mm, ribs extending to apices, 5 more prominent than others; persistent pappi 0. Pollen 70–100% 3-porate. 2n = 14.

Senecio flocciferus de Candolle in A. P. de Candolle and A. L. P. P. de Candolle, Prodr. 6: 426. 1838; Malacothrix obtusa Bentham; M. parviflora Bentham

Malacothrix floccifera is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name woolly desertdandelion. It is native to many of the northern and central mountain ranges of California, including the Sierra Nevada, where its distribution extends into Nevada. Its habitat includes forest, woodland, and chaparral. It is an annual herb producing a hairless flowering stem up to about 42 centimeters in maximum height. The fleshy oblong leaves are cut into teeth or lobes and have cottony patches of woolly fibers. The inflorescence is an array of flower heads lined with hairless phyllaries. The ray florets are up to 1.5 centimeters long and are often white, but sometimes yellow.