Chaenactis fremontii (Fremont/Desert Pincushion)

4/3/17 Ricardo Campground, Red Rock Canyon State Park, Kern County, CA

2/6/05 Wash on north side of Box Canyon Rd. across from Little Box Canyon Trailhead between Meccacopia Trail & Sheep Hole Oasis Campground, 
Mecca Hills, E. Riverside County, CA

LIFE LIST NOTES:

COMMON NAME: Fremont/Desert Pincushion

SPECIES: Chaenactis fremontii

FAMILY: Asteraceae (Sunflower Family)

LIFE LIST DATE: 2/6/2005

LOCATION: Wash on north side of Box Canyon Rd. across from Little Box Canyon Trailhead between Meccacopia Trail & Sheep Hole Oasis Campground, Mecca Hills, E. Riverside County, CA

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Treatment from Jepson eFlora:

NATIVE

Habit: Annual 10--30(40) cm; proximal hairs +- cobwebby early, +- gray, 0 by flowering time. 

Stem: generally 1--12; branches generally proximal. 

Leaf: basal, withering, and +- cauline, 1--7(10) cm; largest blades linear, cylindric, entire, or +- elliptic, flat, 1-pinnately lobed, +- fleshy, nonglandular; lobes generally 1--2(5) pairs, tips +- cylindric. 

Inflorescence: heads radiant, generally 1--5 per stem; peduncle distally generally glandular-hairy, or +- glabrous in fruit; involucre +- obconic to hemispheric; longest phyllaries 8--10(12) mm, outer +- glabrous in fruit, tip erect, stiff, acute. 

Flower: corolla white to +- pink, inner 5--8 mm, outer bilateral, spreading, > inner. 

Fruit: (3)6--8 mm; inner fruit pappus of 4 scales in 1 series, longest 6--8.5 mm, tips visible among buds. 

Ecology: Loose sand or gravel, often growing through shrubs; 

Elevation: -10--1600(2200) m. 

Bioregional Distribution: s SNF, Teh, s SnJV, SCoRI, n&e edges SW (exc ChI), s SNE (exc W&I), D; 

Distribution Outside California: to southwestern Utah, western Arizona, northern Baja California. 

Flowering Time: Feb--May 

Unabridged Note: Prominent spring wildflower in lower deserts; eaten by desert tortoises.

eFlora Treatment Author: James D. Morefield