Leaves rhomboidal (diamond shaped, with widest part in the middle or somewhat closer to the base) or narrowly ovate (egg-shaped, with the widest part toward the base and tapering toward an acute tip. Leaves 3-6 cm long and 1.5-3 cm wide, with a petiole from 0.5-2.5 cm long. Leaves are glabrous, medium green, scattered widely along the stems, usually entire (though there may be slight undulations on the margin and even very slight teeth). There are many stems rising from the base, new ones are glabrous, while older ones may develop a bark covering. The inflorescence consists of a single composite flowerhead per stem mounted atop a tomentose (woolly) or pubescent (hairy) peduncle (flower stalk). Flowerheads have bright yellow ray flowers square tipped with 3 teeth; brown, dark brown, or reddish-purplish brown disk flowers; and a yellowish, imbricated or shingled involucre ~1-1.2 cm tall, with lanceolate (much longer than wide) phyllaries (or bracts). The rays are ~1.5-2.5 cm long, and the central disk is ~0.5-0.6 cm across, so the flowerhead is ~5 cm across or more. Blooms from February through June. Achenes (dry 1-seed fruits) are ~5-6 mm long, and there is no pappus (or bristly hairs). The plant is a very bushy shrub, woody at the base, ~0.5-1.5 m tall and often wider than tall. It is capable of summer deciduousness, so it may appear dead and dried up at that time of year. Favors coastal bluffs, California sage scrub, and sometimes appears in chaparral under 600 m and is found on the Central and South coasts from the Bay Area down into northern Baja, as well as in the western Transverse and Peninsular ranges.
Encelia californica (Asteraceae aka Compositae): encelia or California encelia or California brittlebush or California sunflower
The development of this key was partially funded through the Geoscience Diversity Enhancement Program (Award #0703798) and through a course of re-assigned time provided by the CSULB Scholarly and Creative Activities Committee. Thanks also to the students in sections of biogeography, introductory physical geography, GDEP, and LSAMP for "test-driving" various editions of this key.