About Lasthenia maritima (A.Gray) M.C.Vasey & Madroño.
Lasthenia maritima is an annual herb with short, decumbent to prostrate stems. Its stems are lined with fleshy leaves that can be either lobed or unlobed, reaching up to 9 centimeters long. The plant produces inflorescences bearing flower heads; these heads are lined with hairy phyllaries and surrounded by 7 to 12 gold ray florets, each approximately 3 millimeters long. Its fruit is a small, hairy achene, which is often topped with a brownish pappus. This species is native to the western North American coastline. It grows almost exclusively on small rocky coastal Pacific islands, ranging from Vancouver Island in British Columbia south to the Farallon Islands off the San Francisco Bay Area coast in California. Lasthenia maritima probably evolved from Lasthenia minor, and it is adapted to the distinct conditions found on these maritime islands. These conditions include high winds, saline sea spray, and thin soils that are regularly disturbed by roosting and nesting seabirds. The soils are also made acidic and nitrogen-rich by seabird droppings. Although it has a limited distribution, it is one of the more common plants on California's Farallon Islands. It is an important part of the local seabird ecology there, and is known locally as Farallon weed.
