Mason's neststraw facts for kids

Stylocline masonii, also known as Mason's neststraw, is a special type of flowering plant. It's part of the aster family, which includes many common flowers like sunflowers and daisies. This plant is quite rare!

Where It Grows

This plant is found only in California. When a plant or animal is found only in one specific place, we say it is endemic there. Mason's neststraw grows in small, spread-out areas between Monterey and Los Angeles Counties. It likes to grow in sandy places.

For a long time, scientists thought Mason's neststraw was the same as another plant called baretwig neststraw. But in 1992, they studied it more closely and decided it was a different species. This process of classifying living things is called taxonomy.

What It Looks Like

Mason's neststraw is a very small plant. It's often hard to spot! You can usually only tell what it is when its flowers are blooming. This happens for only two to four weeks, usually during wet years.

Plant Size and Texture

• It's an annual herb, which means it lives for only one growing season.
• It grows close to the ground, reaching only a few centimeters tall.
• The plant is usually covered in soft, white hairs, making it look woolly.
• Its leaves are very tiny, no longer than 11 millimeters. That's about the size of a grain of rice!

Flower Heads

• The flowers grow in clusters called flower heads.
• These heads are small, about 2 to 5 millimeters across.
• They can be shaped like a cylinder, an oval, or almost perfectly round.
• Each flower head is usually a ball of tiny, woolly white flowers.
• Unlike many flowers, these heads often don't have special leaves called phyllaries around them.