Annuals, 4-36 cm. Stems 1-5, erect or ascending, branched mostly distally, glabrous. Cauline leaves: proximal oblanceolate to lance-linear, sometimes pinnately lobed, not fleshy, ultimate margins usually dentate, faces glabrous; distal reduced (margins 2-4-dentate near bases or entire). Calyculi of 5-12, lance-deltate to lanceolate bractlets, hyaline margins 0.05-0.2 mm. Involucres narrowly campanulate, 4-8+ × 2-4+ mm. Phyllaries 8-15+ in 2+ series, lance-linear to linear, ± equal, hyaline margins 0.05-0.3 mm wide, abaxial faces glabrous. Receptacles not bristly. Florets 19-67); corollas pale yellow, 4-7.4 mm; outer ligules exserted 1-3 mm. Cypselae fusiform or prismatic, 1.2-1.8 mm, ribs extending to apices, 5 more prominent than others; persistent pappi of 15-24+, needlelike teeth plus 1 bristle. Pollen 70-100% 3-porate, mean 25 µm. 2n = 14.
Flowering Mar-Jun. Cleared areas (burns, slides), usually chaparral, rarely margins of creosote bush shrub; 20-1500 m; Calif.; Mexico (Baja California); introduced, South America (Argentina, Chile).
Malacothrix clevelandii grows in northwestern California, Sierra Nevada foothills, San Joaquin Valley, central western California, and northern Channel Islands (Santa Rosa Island).
Duration: Annual
Nativity: Native
Lifeform: Forb/Herb
General: Diffusely branched, slender-stemmed annual 10-60 cm tall with numerous heads paniculately arranged at tips of branches; herbage glabrous throughout, stems and lower leaves often reddish-tinged.
Leaves: Basal leaves linear to narrowly lanceolate, 2-7 cm long to 1.5-2 cm wide, lobed to pinnatifid or less commonly with linear segments; cauline leaves remote, linear to lanceolate, entire or nearly so, gradually reduced upward to linear bracts 5-10 mm long.
Flowers: Involucres cylindro-campanulate, 4-8 mm tall, 2-5 mm broad, bracts linear, .4-.7 mm wide, equal and scarcely imbricated, green with purple-dotted tips, margins narrow, scarious; basal bracts small bracts around the calyx, ovate, 1-2 mm long; ligules pale yellow or rarely white, exceeding involucre only 1-3 mm.
Fruits: Cypselae linear-fusiform, truncate at apex, 1.4-1.8 mm long, finely 15-ribbed, 5 ribs more prominent that rest, buff to pale brown, truncate crown, bearing 14-17 minute white, scarious teeth; deciduous pappus bristles silvery white, 5-6 mm long; flowers f
Ecology: Found along arroyos and streams, on slopes and grassy hillsides; 2,500-4,500 ft (762-1372 m).
Notes: Told apart from Malacothrix fendleri by the pale yellow petal color.
Ethnobotany: Unknown for this species, but other species in this genera have use as food and medicine.
Etymology: Malacothrix is from malakos, soft and thrix, hair, while clevelandii is named after Daniel Cleveland (1838-1929) a botanical collector.
Synonyms: None
Editor: SBuckley, 2010
