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Hairy False Goldenaster (Heterotheca cinerascens)
Shrubs Around Las Vegas, Vegetation Around Las Vegas
Hairy False Goldenaster (Heterotheca cinerascens)
Typical habitat: rock crevice in Gold Butte National Monument

General: Hairy False Goldenaster (Heterotheca cinerascens) is a low-growing shrub with green, upright stems and leaves with long hairs all over, but especially on the leaf edges. Flowerheads are long and borne at the tips of the stems.

Hairy False Goldenaster is an uncommon component of desert vegetation communities in drier areas along rocks ridges and slopes in the Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub) life zone. Where found, the plant can be common.

Around Las Vegas, look for this species in rocky areas around southern Nevada, locations such as Red Rock Canyon NCA, Desert National Wildlife Range, Basin and Range National Monument, and out in the Gold Butte Region.

Family: Sunflower (Asteraceae).

Hairy False Goldenaster (Heterotheca cinerascens)

Other Names: Chrysopsis villosa, hairy golden aster, Heterotheca horrida ssp. cinerascens, Heterotheca villosa var. scabra.

Plant Form: Upright, brushy shrub.

Height: To about 18 inches.

Stems: Upright, green, stiff.

Leaves: long hairs on the edges.

Flowers: Blooms during spring. Inflorescence: flowerheads on tips of stems. Flowerheads large; ray and disk flowers yellow.

Hairy False Goldenaster (Heterotheca cinerascens)

Seeds: achene.

Habitat: Rock crevices.

Elevation: About 4,000 to 4,500 feet.

Distribution: Mostly in the Great Basin province of Western North America: Nevada, NW Arizona, western Utah, and southern Idaho.

Comments: This genus was recently revised in Nesom, G.L. 2020. Taxonomic summary of Heterotheca (Asteraceae: Astereae): Sect. Chrysanthe. Phytoneuron 2020-68.

Hairy False Goldenaster (Heterotheca cinerascens)
Habitat in Gold Butte National Monument
Hairy False Goldenaster (Heterotheca cinerascens)
Upright stems that branch towards the tips
Hairy False Goldenaster (Heterotheca cinerascens)
Small leaves on upper stems

Small leaves on upper stems

Small leaf from upper stems (dorsal surface)

Small leaf from upper stems (ventral surface)
Hairy False Goldenaster (Heterotheca cinerascens)
Larger leaves on lower stems
Hairy False Goldenaster (Heterotheca cinerascens)
leaf surfaces hairy; hairs on margin long
Hairy False Goldenaster (Heterotheca cinerascens)
Leaf surfaces hairy; hairs on margin long, but variable
Hairy False Goldenaster (Heterotheca cinerascens)
Leaf surfaces hairy; hairs on margin long, but variable
Hairy False Goldenaster (Heterotheca cinerascens)
Flowers terminal on branch tips
Hairy False Goldenaster (Heterotheca cinerascens)
Nine to 14 ray flowers
Hairy False Goldenaster (Heterotheca cinerascens)
Flowerheads about 1-inch across
Hairy False Goldenaster (Heterotheca cinerascens)
Flowerheads about 1-inch across
Hairy False Goldenaster (Heterotheca cinerascens)
Phyllaries in 3–5 series
Hairy False Goldenaster (Heterotheca cinerascens)
Phyllaries in 3–5 series
Hairy False Goldenaster (Heterotheca cinerascens)
Fresh and dried flowers on same plant
Hairy False Goldenaster (Heterotheca cinerascens)
Fresh and dried flowers on same plant
Hairy False Goldenaster (Heterotheca cinerascens)
Fresh and dried flowers on same plant
Hairy False Goldenaster (Heterotheca cinerascens)
Receptacle naked, pitted; dried ray flowers persistent

Note: All distances, elevations, and other facts are approximate. Names generally follow the USDA database.
copyright; Last updated 240915

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