About Calycadenia pauciflora A.Gray
Calycadenia pauciflora A.Gray is a species of flowering plant in the Asteraceae family, with the common name smallflower western rosinweed. It is endemic to northern California, growing in the Coast Ranges north of the San Francisco Bay Area, ranging from Napa County to Tehama County. It often grows on serpentine soils. This species is an annual herb that produces a slender, crooked, branching stem covered in hairs, and it reaches a maximum height of 50 centimeters, or 20 inches. Its leaves are linear in shape and grow up to 5 centimeters, or 2 inches, long. The inflorescence holds bracts dotted with large resin glands and small clusters of flower heads. Each hairy, glandular flower head has a center made up of a few disc florets, plus one or two triple-lobed ray florets that may be white or red. Each ray floret has three lobes at its tip, with the middle lobe being the shortest of the three. The fruit this plant produces is an achene; achenes that develop from the disc florets have a pappus made of scales.
