Wand lessingia facts for kids

Lessingia virgata, also known as the wand lessingia, is a special kind of flowering plant. It's part of the daisy family, which includes many familiar flowers like sunflowers and dandelions. This plant is found only in California, making it a unique part of the state's natural environment.

Meet the Wand Lessingia

The wand lessingia is an annual herb, which means it grows, flowers, and produces seeds all within one year. It can grow up to about 60 centimeters (about 2 feet) tall. Its name, "wand lessingia," comes from its slender, spreading branches that look a bit like wands.

What Does It Look Like?

This plant has a fuzzy, woolly feel and is also glandular, meaning it has tiny glands that might make it feel a bit sticky.

• Stems and Branches: The plant has thin, spreading branches that grow upwards.
• Leaves: The leaves at the top of the plant are quite small, less than a centimeter long. The lower leaves are longer and sometimes have small lobes or teeth along their edges.
• Flowers: The flower heads appear one by one where the leaves meet the stem. Each flower head is surrounded by special leaves called phyllaries, which are woolly and have purple tips. The flower heads are discoid, meaning they don't have the large, showy petals (ray florets) that you see on a typical daisy. Instead, they have small, tube-shaped flowers called disc florets. These tiny flowers are usually light lavender or almost white and have long, narrow tips.
• Fruit: After the flowers bloom, the plant produces small fruits called achenes. Each achene has a whitish, fluffy top called a pappus, which helps the seeds float away in the wind.

Where Does It Grow?

The wand lessingia is endemic to California. This means it naturally grows nowhere else in the world! You can find it on the eastern side of California's Central Valley and in the nearby Sierra Nevada foothills. It prefers these specific areas to thrive.