''Layia gaillardioides'' is a species of flowering plant in the family

Asteraceae The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...

known by the common name woodland tidytips. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, where it grows on the coastline and in the coastal mountain ranges in the northern and central parts of the state. It is often found on

serpentine soil Serpentine soil is an uncommon soil type produced by weathered ultramafic rock such as peridotite and its metamorphic derivatives such as serpentinite. More precisely, serpentine soil contains minerals of the serpentine subgroup, especially anti ...

Description

This is an aromatic annual herb producing an erect stem up to a meter-3 feet tall coated in dark glandular hairs. The leaves are linear or lance-shaped, and the lower ones are lobed or toothed and approach 10 centimeters in maximum length. The

flower head A pseudanthium (Greek for "false flower"; ) is an inflorescence that resembles a flower. The word is sometimes used for other structures that are neither a true flower nor a true inflorescence. Examples of pseudanthia include flower heads, compos ...

has a nearly rounded base of fuzzy green

phyllaries In botanical terminology, a phyllary, also known an involucral bract or tegule, is a single bract of the involucre of a composite flower. The involucre is the grouping of bracts together. Phyllaries are reduced leaf-like structures that form one or ...

. It opens into a face fringed with bright yellow ray florets which are sometimes tipped with white, and a center of disc florets with purple

anthers The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...

. The fruit is an

achene An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not ope ...

; fruits on the disc florets often have a thick pappus of white or brown bristles.

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants ProfilePhoto gallery
gaillardioides Endemic flora of California Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Endemic flora of the San Francisco Bay Area Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Asteroideae-stub