About Nestotus stenophyllus (A.Gray) Urbatsch, R.P.Roberts & Neubig
Nestotus stenophyllus is a small, clump-forming perennial sub-shrub that grows up to around 12 centimeters tall. Mature plants have a very low, woody sprawling base that gives rise to new growing stems. This woody base is often mostly hidden by leaves, so the plant can look herbaceous if not inspected closely. The rough-glandular leaves are 1 to 2 centimeters long, shaped linear to lance, and arranged along upright to angled stems up to 6 centimeters long that grow from short woody bases. When viewed closely, the leaf glands create a distinctive stippled appearance on the leaves. The inflorescence is a single solitary flower head that sits atop an erect peduncle covered in dense to sparse wooly hairs, which emerges from the tip of the leafy stem. The flower has glandular-hairy bracts, 8 to 12 yellow ray florets each around one centimeter long, and many yellow disc florets at its center. The involucre, the structure formed by the flower's bracts, is 5 to 9 millimeters long and made up of many lanceolate lobes with pointed tips. These bracts often appear to have a fringe of long hairs near the top of each lobe; this fringe is actually attached to the base of the florets and will become part of the seed pappus. This species flowers in early spring. Its fruit is a silky-haired achene capped with a white pappus. Nestotus stenophyllus grows mostly in dry rocky soils. It is common in the shallow rocky soil of scablands on the Columbia Plateau in Washington State and Oregon. It can also be found in Idaho, Nevada, and northern California, growing in similar habitats.
