About Arnica spathulata Greene
Arnica spathulata Greene, commonly known as Klamath arnica, is a rare North American flowering plant in the Asteraceae family. It is native to the Klamath Mountains, occurring in northwestern California's Humboldt, Trinity, Siskiyou, and Del Norte Counties, and southwestern Oregon's Curry, Josephine, Jackson, and Douglas Counties. It grows in woodland habitat, and occurs almost exclusively on serpentine soils. This species is a rhizomatous perennial herb that produces one or more hairy, glandular stems between 10 and 50 centimeters tall. Several pairs of broadly lance-shaped leaves grow along the stem, with a cluster of leaves growing around the stem's base. Basal leaves can reach up to around 15 centimeters long, while cauline leaves growing higher on the stem are somewhat shorter. The inflorescence bears many flower heads lined with phyllaries covered in long, white hairs. Each flower head is discoid, containing only yellow disc florets and no larger, showier ray florets. Its fruit is an achene up to one centimeter long, not counting the fruit's attached white pappus.
