Meager pygmydaisy facts for kids

The Pentachaeta exilis, also called the meager pygmydaisy, is a type of flowering plant. It belongs to the aster family, which includes many well-known flowers like sunflowers and daisies. This plant is special because it only grows naturally in California. You can find it in different parts of the state, from the North Coast Ranges to the Central Valley and the Sierra Nevada foothills. It likes to grow in open areas like grasslands and woodlands.

What the Meager Pygmydaisy Looks Like

The meager pygmydaisy is an annual herb. This means it grows from a seed, flowers, produces new seeds, and then dies all within one year. Its stem is quite small, usually no taller than about 6 centimeters (about 2.5 inches). The stem also has tiny hairs on it.

Leaves and Flowers

The leaves of this plant are long and narrow. They can be up to 3 centimeters (about 1 inch) long. But they are very thin, only about a millimeter wide.

The plant produces small flower heads. Each plant can have up to 23 of these tiny heads. A flower head is like a cluster of many small flowers that look like one big flower.

Two Types of Pygmydaisy Flowers

There are two main types, or subspecies, of the meager pygmydaisy. They have slightly different kinds of flower heads.

Common Type: exilis

Most of the meager pygmydaisy plants you find are the ssp. exilis type. This type has long, reddish flowers in the center of its head. These are called disc florets. But the outer "petals," called ray florets, are very tiny and not fully developed.

Rare Type: aeolica

The other type is the rare subspecies aeolica. This one is found in only a few places in the Central Coast Ranges. The aeolica type usually has some white ray florets. These are the "petals" that form a ring around the center. The middle of its flower head has yellow disc florets.