About Microseris heterocarpa (Nutt.) K.L.Chambers
Microseris heterocarpa is variable in morphology. Generally, it is an annual herb that grows a basal rosette of large leaves. Its inflorescence develops on a tall peduncle that holds a single flower head. The flower head is lined with hairless phyllaries, and contains many ray florets—often more than 100—in shades of yellow or white. Its fruit is an achene with a brown, gray, blue, or purple body, tipped with a pappus of five long, spreading scales; the entire fruit unit measures 1 to 2 centimeters. This species is suspected to be a hybrid between Microseris douglasii and Uropappus lindleyi, and may have evolved independently, possibly as many as three separate times. The plant has a very wide range of appearances, with variation in flowering traits, size, and height, falling on a spectrum between the two suspected parent taxa. Microseris heterocarpa is native to southwestern North America, where it occurs across various areas of California, parts of Arizona, and northern Mexico. It also grows on Guadalupe Island, a Mexican island in the Pacific Ocean. It grows in open habitats including chaparral, woodlands, grasslands, desert, Sierra foothills, and inland canyons.
