California
Layne's butterweed
Packera layneae
A perennial, non-woody member of the sunflower family, Layne's butterweed grows from a basal rosette of lance shaped grey-green leaves that are typically two to four inches long and half an inch wide, with a few teeth along the leaf margins. The stems are slender, erect, with a few leaves, and are about 10 to 18 inches tall.
The yellow flower heads at the ends of the stems possess a central cluster of "disk" flowers, which lack petals. The cluster of disk flowers is bordered by five to eight "ray" flowers, each looking like a petal. The ray flowers appear to be located randomly around the edge of the disk flowers, causing each flower head to have a slightly different asymmetric appearance.
This species is found in open, rocky areas within the chaparral and woodland habitats on gabbro and serpentine soils in western El Dorado County, in the Red Hills in Tuolumne County, and in Yuba County near Brownsville.
Listed under the Federal Endangered Species Act as threatened and with the State of California as rare.
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