WILDFLOWERS OF NEW MEXICO

The 1–5-foot tall stem has spreading, gland-tipped, sticky hairs and numerous side branches with up to 100+ yellow flower heads. Note the upper leaves clasp the stem but lower leaves have short stalks (petioles).

FLOWER: May–October, mostly in the summer-fall. Flower heads bloom on tips of spreading branches, 1/2-1-inch (12-25 mm) wide with 15–35 slender, yellow petal-like ray flowers, each 1/8–1/4-inch (3–7 mm) long, around a yellow disk.The cup (calyx) beneath the rays is somewhat bell shaped with 4–6 rows of phyllaries stacked like shingles on a roof.

LEAVES: Alternate. Blades oval to lance-shaped, smaller up the stem, surfaces rough and hairy to smooth or with scattered hairs. Lower stem leaves have a 3/8–1 1/2-inch (10–40 mm) long, stalk (petiole) and blade reaching 2 3/4-inches (10–70 mm) long; upper leaves clasp the stem with heart-shaped bases; margins may be toothed or entire, flat, or wavy.

HABITAT: Dry sandy, rocky soils of fields, roadsides, disturbed areas; desert grasslands and scrub, shortgrass prairies.

ELEVATION: 4,100–6,900 feet.

RANGE: AZ, CA, CO, NM, NV, OK, TX; widespread across southern U. S. from CA to SC.

SIMILAR SPECIES: This variable plant, once considered 3 separate species, has two subspecies with minor hair variations; ours is subsp. latifolia. Hairy Goldenaster, H. villosa, statewide, has long silky hairs on the stem and leaf margins. Gumweeds, Grindelia species, have sticky, resinous flower heads. The Hererotheca genus is in the process of a complete reshuffle, renaming, and reorganization.

NM COUNTIES: Eastern plains and southern NM: Bernalillo, Catron, Chaves, Curry, De Baca, Eddy, Grant, Harding, Hidalgo, Lea, Quay, Roosevelt, Union.