Alkali-sink goldfields

Crockeria chrysantha Greene ex A. Gray in A. Gray et al., Syn. Fl. N. Amer. 1(2): 445. 1884

Annuals, to 28 cm. Stems erect, branched distally, glabrous or ± hairy. Leaves linear, 10–80 × 1–2(–3+) mm, margins entire, faces glabrous or sparsely hairy. Involucres hemispheric, 5–7 mm. Phyllaries 8–14, ± deltate (distinct tips ± deltate), glabrous but for apices. Receptacles ± conic, warty, glabrous or sparsely hairy. Ray florets 6–10; (corollas lemon- or golden yellow) laminae narrowly oblong, 6–7 mm. Anther appendages deltate or broadly ovate. Cypselae black, strongly flattened, obovoid, 2–3 mm, margins ciliate (hairs white or stramineous, stiff, blunt, curved), faces glabrous or scabrous; pappi 0. 2n = 14.

Flowering Feb–Apr. Vernal pools and wet alkali flats; 0–100 m; Calif.

Lasthenia chrysantha has the narrowest ecologic range within Lasthenia sect. Hologymne and is mostly limited to alkali flats in the San Joaquin Valley.