About Lessingia hololeuca Greene
Lessingia hololeuca is an annual herb that varies greatly in maximum size and shape. It can grow flat, reaching just a few centimeters in height, or grow erect to up to 40 centimeters tall. Most of the plant has a woolly texture. Lower leaves can reach close to 13 centimeters long, and may bear several deep lobes. Upper leaves are much smaller and do not have lobes. Flower heads grow either singly or in crowded clusters. Each flower head has a bullet-shaped involucre lined with woolly phyllaries that have purple tips. The head is discoid: it contains no ray florets, but holds many funnel-shaped disc florets in shades of pink, lavender, or purple. The lobes of these disc florets resemble ray florets. The fruit produced is an achene, which has a whitish pappus made of bristles. This plant is endemic to California. It is found at several locations around the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as in adjacent parts of the Sacramento Valley and North Coast Ranges. It grows in many types of local habitat.
