Isocoma menziesii (Menzies’ goldenbush)

Menzies’ goldenbush is native to California and the Baja California penninsula.

Plants: Shrubs are 3–6½′ (1–2 m) in size, and comprised of prostrate or erect, heavily branched stems that may be woolly or hairless. Stems are branched mostly from the base. They may be yellow-tan, gray, gray-green, or red-brown in color.

Leaves: Alternate, obovate to oval to neartly rectangular, ¼–1¾″ long ⨉ ⅛–½″ wide (7–45 ⨉ 5–15 mm) gray-green, sometimes hairy and glandular. Leaf edges may be smooth or dentate.

Flowers: Inflorescences are densely or loosely packed flowerheads with 4-10 flowers. Each cluster has 15-28 flowers. Tubular flowers have yellow disc florets with long stigmas, atop 3-6 rows of phyllaries, each of which has very small resin glands at the tip.

Fruits: Achenes are white to light tan, with a pappus 1/16–3/16″ (3–5 mm) in size.

Habitats: Chaparral, especially in sandy soil. Alluvial fans, arroyos, stream terraces, and coastal bluffs, at elevations of less than 3937′ (1.2 km).

2/24/2010 · Batiquitos Lagoon, Carlsbad, California · ≈ 2½ × 3″ (7.2 × 7.9 cm)

2/24/2010 · Batiquitos Lagoon, Carlsbad, California · ≈ 7 × 10″ (17 × 25 cm)

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin)
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Magnoliopsida	Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves
Subclass	Asteridae	A large class that encompasses asters
Order	Asterales	Flowering plants with a central disk flower and surrounding petals, like daisies
Family	Asteraceae	The aster family, which also includes daisies and sunflowers; from the Greek ἀστήρ, “star,” for the star-shaped flowers
Genus	Isocoma	From the Greek meaning “an equal hair-tuft,” and referring to the flowers
Species	menziesii	Named after Archibald Menzies (1754-1842), Scottish botanist and surgeon

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