About Eriophyllum confertiflorum (DC.) A.Gray
Eriophyllum confertiflorum (DC.) A.Gray, commonly known as golden yarrow or yellow yarrow, is a North American plant species in the family Asteraceae, native to California and Baja California. Young plants have woolly leaves, and the species produces yellow flower heads. The genus name Eriophyllum translates to "woolly leaved". Its common name comes from the fact that its inflorescence looks similar to that of true yarrow, which bears white flowers. Eriophyllum confertiflorum is a highly variable species that most often grows as a small shrub. It grows primarily in the Sierra Nevada and Coastal Ranges of California and Baja California, and can be found in a wide range of plant communities and habitats. In California's Santa Monica Mountains, it is common in inland open areas away from the coast. This species grows in large clumps or stands made up of many erect stems that often exceed 50 cm (20 in) in height; botanist Nancy Dale describes its growth pattern as "tidy". Its leaves are alternate. Both leaves and stems are whitish when young, due to a covering of woolly white hairs, and later turn greenish to gray-green. Its leaves have 3 to 5 deep lobes. Yellow flowers are tightly packed into flower heads that can grow up to 3/8 inch (0.95 cm) across, forming a flat-topped structure that contains both disc and ray flowers. The species epithet confertiflorum means "densely flowered". Bloom occurs from January to July. The infructescence produces achenes each with a very short pappus. The top of each stem bears an inflorescence holding up to 30 flower heads; each head is bright golden yellow, with a large center of disc florets and usually a fringe of rounded to oval ray florets. Three varieties are recognized: Eriophyllum confertiflorum var. confertiflorum, which occurs across most of the species' range; Eriophyllum confertiflorum var. tanacetiflorum (Greene) Jeps., which is found in the Sierra Nevada foothills and San Gabriel Mountains; and Eriophyllum confertiflorum var. trifidum (Nutt.) A.Gray, which grows along the California coast between Santa Barbara and Monterey.
