Hulsea californica
Encyclopedia
Hulsea californica is a rare species of flowering plant in the daisy family
known by the common names San Diego alpinegold and San Diego sunflower. It is endemic to southern California
, where it grows only in the Peninsular Ranges
. Most of its occurrences are known from San Diego County
. It grows in open areas such as forest clearings and occurs in the chaparral
, especially after wildfire
. This is a clumpy biennial herb producing greenish-gray to reddish erect stems of 40 centimeters to over a meter in height. The stems and foliage are hairy to densely woolly with thick coats of cobwebby fibers. Plants with thicker fibers are gray in color to nearly white. The abundant leaves are lance-shaped to scoop-shaped and up to 10 centimeters long, mostly without teeth along the edges but sometimes wavy or coarsely lobed. The flower head
is large with woolly lance-shaped phyllaries
each over a centimeter long. The center of the head is packed with a ring of deep yellow disc florets and fringed with yellow ray florets up to two centimeters long. The main threat to this species is invasive plant species
.
Asteraceae
The Asteraceae or Compositae , is an exceedingly large and widespread family of vascular plants. The group has more than 22,750 currently accepted species, spread across 1620 genera and 12 subfamilies...
known by the common names San Diego alpinegold and San Diego sunflower. It is endemic to southern California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, where it grows only in the Peninsular Ranges
Peninsular Ranges
The Peninsular Ranges are a group of mountain ranges, in the Pacific Coast Ranges, which stretch from southern California in the United States to the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California peninsula; they are part of the North American Coast Ranges that run along the Pacific coast from Alaska...
. Most of its occurrences are known from San Diego County
San Diego County, California
San Diego County is a large county located in the southwestern corner of the US state of California. Hence, San Diego County is also located in the southwestern corner of the 48 contiguous United States. Its county seat and largest city is San Diego. Its population was about 2,813,835 in the 2000...
. It grows in open areas such as forest clearings and occurs in the chaparral
Chaparral
Chaparral is a shrubland or heathland plant community found primarily in the U.S. state of California and in the northern portion of the Baja California peninsula, Mexico...
, especially after wildfire
Wildfire
A wildfire is any uncontrolled fire in combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, squirrel fire, vegetation fire, veldfire, and wilkjjofire may be used to describe the same...
. This is a clumpy biennial herb producing greenish-gray to reddish erect stems of 40 centimeters to over a meter in height. The stems and foliage are hairy to densely woolly with thick coats of cobwebby fibers. Plants with thicker fibers are gray in color to nearly white. The abundant leaves are lance-shaped to scoop-shaped and up to 10 centimeters long, mostly without teeth along the edges but sometimes wavy or coarsely lobed. The flower head
Head (botany)
The capitulum is considered the most derived form of inflorescence. Flower heads found outside Asteraceae show lesser degrees of specialization....
is large with woolly lance-shaped phyllaries
Bract
In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis, or cone scale. Bracts are often different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of a different color, shape, or texture...
each over a centimeter long. The center of the head is packed with a ring of deep yellow disc florets and fringed with yellow ray florets up to two centimeters long. The main threat to this species is invasive plant species
Introduced species
An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...
.