About Lessingia nemaclada Greene
Lessingia nemaclada is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, known by the common name slenderstem lessingia. It is endemic to California, where it is widespread across the northern sections of the Central Valley, as well as the adjacent foothills and mountains. This range includes the Sierra Nevada foothills and the mountains of the San Francisco Bay Area. It can grow in a wide variety of different habitats. This annual herb varies quite a lot in its overall appearance. Plants can be small, reaching just a few centimeters in height, or grow erect to over half a meter tall with many spreading branches. The plant is generally glandular, with knobby glands that are most easily observed on the leaves, and it often ranges from hairy to woolly in texture. The plant's upper leaves are small and unlobed, while its lower leaves are larger and sometimes lobed or toothed; lower leaves wither early in the plant's development. The plant's flower heads grow either singly or in small clusters. Each flower head is lined with hairless, glandular phyllaries. Each flower head is discoid: it contains no ray florets, and holds only a small number of pale purple, pinkish, or nearly white funnel-shaped disc florets with narrow lobes. The plant produces fruit in the form of an achene, which has a whitish pappus made of bristles that may be fused into points.
