Gray chickensage

Tanacetum canum D. C. Eaton in S. Watson, Botany (Fortieth Parallel), 179, plate 19, figs. 8–14. 1871

Subshrubs (flowering twigs dying back each year), (5–)15–60 cm (aromatic). Stems erect, sericeous-canescent. Leaves mostly cauline; blades (linear or linear-oblanceolate, 10–40 mm) entire or pinnately or subpalmately lobed, faces ± sericeous. Heads usually 3–12 in compact, corymbiform cymes (1–3 cm across), sometimes 1–2. Involucres 2.5–4(–6) mm. Phyllaries 10–12, canescent. ( Disc corollas ochroleucous, lobes villous.) Cypselae 1.8–1.9 mm (apices with irregular, thickened rims, faces glabrous or slightly gland-dotted). 2n = 18.

Flowering Jul–Sep. Crevices in cliffs, dry rocky slopes; 1800–4000 m; Calif., Nev., Oreg.

Sphaeromeria cana grows in western United States, with northern extension in the Steens Mountains of Oregon.