elegant silverpuffs

Microseris elegans is an annual plant with a taproot, 5-35 cm tall. It has basal leaves that are linear to narrowly oblanceolate, with entire, dentate, or pinnately lobed margins. The stems are absent, and the peduncles are erect or ascending. The involucres are globose to ovoid, 4-8 mm in size, with glabrous phyllaries. The florets are yellow or orange, and the cypselae are columnar to obconic with a pappus of 4-5 scales. It is native to California, Baja California, and the Mexico Northwest region, growing in grasslands and clay soils.