Leaf blades 2-8+ cm. Cypselae 2.5-4.5 mm; pappi 1-4 mm. 2n = ca. 80.

Flowering Jun-Oct. Open or shaded sites, grasslands, forests; 1200-2400 m; Ariz., N.Mex.; Mexico (Chihuahua, Sonora).

Duration: Perennial

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Forb/Herb

General: Herbaceous perennials, stems few, branching throughout, pubescent, the roots tuberous-thickened.

Leaves: Opposite, rounded-deltate to ovate, sessile, with prominent nerves, at least on the underside of the leaf, margins serrate, faces scabrous.

Flowers: Heads medium sized, radiate, rays yellow to orange, 11-14 or more, these pistillate, fertile, the disk flowers yellow to orange, 20-100 or more, these bisexual, fertile, the corolla lobes 5, deltate, the receptacles convex, chaffy, involucres hemispheric to obconic, 10-14 mm diameter or more, phyllaries persistent, 12-20 in 2-5 series, ovate to lanceolate, subequal, heads borne solitary or in corymbiform or umbelliform clusters.

Fruits: Achenes obovate, compressed, 2-winged, 2-4.5 mm long. Pappus of 2 slender awns with several intermediate small scales.

Ecology: Found in open or shaded sites, grasslands, and forests, from 4,000-8,000 ft (1219-2438 m); flowering June-October.

Distribution: Arizona, New Mexico; Mexico.

Notes: Look for this species under Zexmenia podocephala in older texts. This species is recognizable by its large heads with well-spaced and somewhat large yellow rays and its opposite leaves, rough to the touch.

Ethnobotany: Unknown

Etymology: Lasianthaea likely comes from the root lasiantha meaning with woolly flowers, while podocephala comes from Greek podos for food and cephala meaning head.

Synonyms: Verbesina podocephala, Zexmenia podocephala

Editor: LCrumbacher 2011