Nothocalais alpestris


Nothocalais alpestris is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common name alpine lake false dandelion. It is native to the Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada and other mountains from northern Washington to central California, where it grows in subalpine forests and meadows, most commonly at elevation.

Description

Nothocalais alpestris is a nearly hairless perennial herb growing from a thick caudex and reaching about tall. The leaves are located around the base of the stem and have toothed, wavy, or smooth edges, and sometimes a thin coat of small hairs. They measure up to long. The flower head is borne singly, usually on a leafless stalk. Hairless phyllaries are green, usually with tiny purple dots and nearly equal in length. The outer ones are wider than the inner. The corolla contains many yellow ray florets and no disc florets. The fruit from each floret is a cylindrical achene up to long, not considering the large pappus of up to 50 hairlike white bristles which may be an additional centimeter in length.