Native plant identification key for the
Palos Verdes Peninsula, California


Leaves sharply toothed, spinose, ~1-5 cm long, margins and teeth often revolute (rolled under), densely crowded, sessile (base attached directly to stem without a petiole or leaf stalk). Leaves are sclerophyllous, (tough, leathery), mostly glabrous (smooth-surfaced) but can be sparsely hairy or resinous. Composite flower heads borne in crowded, bunched racemes (spikes) at the ends of main stems or axillary stems (those coming out of the angle between a main stem and a leaf). Discoid flowers (all disk flowers, no ray flowers) and the head itself is discoid in shape. The involucre under the head is ~7-11 mm tall, cylindrical in shape (longer than wide), and imbricated (phyllaries or whorl of bracts are imbricated or shingled together with spiky tips, like an artichoke). Disk flowers yellow and tinged red. The whole composite flowerhead clasps the stem of the inflorescence, so that one flowerhead crowds the next. Blooms from July to October. The fruit is an achene (dry, 1-seeded fruit), whitish to reddish-brown, 5-angled, ~5-8 mm long, which develops a thick pappus or fringe of bristly hairs (modified sepals) that are red-brown or yellow-brown. Forms a densely branched and rigid shrub ~0.25 -2.5 m tall. Found in California sage scrub, chaparral, and other scrub formations under 1300 m along the South Coast, the Transverse and Peninsular ranges, the southern Central Coast Ranges, and the San Joaquin Valley.

Hazardia squarrosa aka Happlopappus squarrosus (Asteraceae aka Compositae): common hazardia or saw-toothed goldenbush


First placed on web: 08/08/11
Last revised: 08/08/11
Christine M. Rodrigue, Ph.D., Department of Geography, California State University, Long Beach, CA 90840-1101
rodrigue@csulb.edu

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.