Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

Isocoma acradenia is a North American species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common name alkali goldenbush. It is native to the Southwestern United States (California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona) and northwestern Mexico (Sonora, Baja California). It grows in arid, sandy areas, particularly mineral-rich areas such as alkali flats and gypsum soils. Isocoma acradenia is a bushy subshrub reaching maximum heights of slightly over a meter (40 inches). It produces erect, branching stems which are a shiny pale yellowish white, aging to a yellow-gray. Along the tough, hard-surfaced stems are linear or oval-shaped glandular leaves 1-6 centimetres (0. 39-2. 36 in) long, sometimes with stumpy teeth along the edges. They are gray-green and age to pale gray or tan. The inflorescences along the top parts of the stem branches are clusters of four or five flower heads. Each head is a capsule encased in bumpy, glandular greenish phyllaries bearing many golden yellow disc florets at its mouth. Each disc floret is somewhat cylindrical and protruding. The fruit is an achene a few millimeters long, with a yellowish pappus adding another few millimeters. VarietiesIsocoma acradenia var. acradenia - Salt scrub, often with creosote - Arizona, California, Nevada, SonoraIsocoma acradenia var. bracteosa (Greene) G. L. Nesom - salt flats - southern Central Valley in CaliforniaIsocoma acradenia var. eremophila (Greene) G. L. Nesom - sandy soils, dunes, etc. - Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, Baja California, Sonora).

Plant type

Shrub

Size

3 ft Tall

Calscape icon
Color

Yellow

Water

Very Low

Plant communities

Alkali Sink, Creosote Bush Scrub, Joshua Tree Woodland, Shadscale Scrub

Bees
Butterflies

Pollinators supported

6 confirmed and 77 likely

  • Likely

  • Confirmed

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