Hairy gumplant

Description:

This is an erect perennial herb forming patches of herbage 20 centimeters high to sprawling stands of weedlike erect stems exceeding a meter in height. The plant is usually green in colour but the stems are often red or purplish-brown and the leaves can be somewhat yellowish to reddish. The stems are topped with flower heads 2 or 3 centimeters wide with hemispheric cups of greenish phyllaries that are clawlike and bend away from the flowers. The center of the head is filled with small yellow disc florets and the circumference is lined with golden ray florets. The head produces a thick white exudate, especially in new flower heads.

Habitat:

Sandy dunes between Salinas River and beach, Moss Landing, CA.