Pygmy alpinegold

Hulsea vestita var. pygmaea A. Gray in A. Gray et al., Syn. Fl. N. Amer. 1(2): 343. 1884

Plants 5–15 cm. Leaves: proximal blades spatulate, 1–4 cm, margins dentate to lobed, faces: abaxial densely lanate to woolly, adaxial glandular-puberulent. Heads 1. Involucres obconic to hemispheric, 15–18 mm diam. Phyllaries narrowly oblanceolate to obovate, 8–10 mm, (margins scarious) apices acuminate. Ray florets 9–20; laminae orange to reddish orange, 7–10 mm. Disc corollas orange. Cypselae 7–9 mm; pappus scales equal, 1.5–2 mm. 2n = 38.

Flowering late spring–summer. Alpine to subalpine rocky slopes and talus, granitic or volcanic substrates; of conservation concern; 3000–3900 m; Calif.

Subspecies pygmaea grows in the San Bernardino Mountains and the southern Sierra Nevada.