Chaenactis glabriuscula

Chaenactis glabriuscula is a species of flowering plant in the Asteraceae (Sunflower) family known by the common name Yellow Pincushion. It is native to much of California and Baja California, where it grows in a wide variety of habitats. It is a variable plant, especially across its five recognized Varieties: Var. orcuttiana, is a rare variety limited to the beaches and coastal dunes of southern California and Baja, where it is threatened by development of its coastal habitat. In general this is an annual herb producing one or more mainly erect stems approaching half a meter in maximum height. The branching stems are hairy and often cobwebby with fibers. The leaves are up to about 10 centimeters long, sometimes fleshy, and usually divided into many very small, curling lobes. The flower cluster produces one to many flower heads on a very long, erect peduncle. The flower head is lined with flat, hairy or woolly hairy phyllaries. It contains many tubular flowers in shades of gold to bright yellow, the outermost flowers large and flat-faced, most with protruding anthers. The fruit is an achene which may be over a centimeter long including its layered pappus of scales. This is an attractive plant, especially when planted in mass, which can bloom up to eight months of the year, and attractive to butterflies.