Annuals, 20-50 cm. Stems minutely, prominently, often sparsely, papillate-scabrous (hairs triangular or deltate to lanceolate, less than 0.1 mm). Leaves: proximal usually absent at flowering; cauline blades 1-nerved, linear, 0.5-1.2 mm wide, little reduced distally. Heads in loose arrays. Involucres campanulate, 2.5-5 mm diam. Phyllary apices flat. Ray florets 10-15; corollas yellow, 3-5.5 mm. Disc florets 18-37. Cypselae 0.9-1.2(-1.4) mm, faces without oil cavities, densely strigoso-sericeous in rows (hairs appressed to spreading, apices clavate); pappi of 1 series of narrowly triangular or narrowly oblong scales 0.2-1 mm (distinct or basally connate ¹ / 4 - ³ / 4 their lengths, usually shorter in rays). 2n = 8 (10).

Flowering (Feb-)May-Dec. Grasslands, roadsides, lake edges, alkaline flats with Atriplex, oak-pine-juniper woodlands, often over gypsum or limestone; (200-)1300-2000 m; Ariz., N.Mex., Tex.; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas, Zacatecas).

Duration: Annual

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Forb/Herb

General: Annual herbs, 2-60 cm tall; stems papillate-scabrous, much-branched in the upper two-thirds.

Leaves: Alternate along the stems, the blades lance-linear, 1 mm wide and up to 3 cm long, 1-nerved, glabrous and glutinous.

Flowers: Flower heads small, yellow, radiate, located at the tips of secondary branches; involucres broadly campanulate, 3-5 mm high, the bracts (phyllaries) in about 3 series, strongly graduated, straw-colored with a green tip; ray florets 10-20 per flower head, the laminae (ray petals) yellow, 3-5 mm long; disc florets 20-40 per flower head, yellow.

Fruits: Achenes 1 mm long, densely strigoso-sericeous in rows; topped with a pappus of scales less than 1 mm high.

Ecology: Found in calcareous, gypsum, and sandy soils in grasslands, along roadsides, in pinyon-juniper woodlands, and in alkalai flats, from 4,000-6,500 ft (1219-1981 m); flowers May to December.

Distribution: TX, NM, and extreme se AZ; south to MEX

Notes: This annual Gutierrezia is quite similar to G. texana, which is characterized by its smooth, hairless stems (G. sphaerocephala has papillate-scabrous stems) and by having fewer disc florets per flower head (10-20 compared to G. sphaerocephala's 20-40). Look for G. spaerocephala in calcareous and gypsum soils.

Ethnobotany: Unknown

Etymology: Gutierrezia is named for Pedro Gutierrez (Rodriguez), a 19th century Spanish noblemen and botanist; sphaerocephala comes from the Latin sphaero- or spherical, and cephala, or head.

Synonyms: Xanthocephalum sphaerocephalum, Gutierrezia coulteri , Gutierrezia eriocarpa

Editor: AHazelton 2017