California Tickseed is an annual wildflower native to California, Arizona, and Mexico and is found in washes, plains and hillsides, below 4,000 feet. It is clump-forming with bright yellow daisy-like flowers that have both ray and disc florets. The narrow leaves grow at the base and the reddish leafless stems are topped with the yellow flowers from February to May. They grow in desert conditions and full sun.
Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds
whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.
No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.
Also noted by NC State
Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell
apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.
Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)
Soil texture
Sand
Soil drainage
Good Drainage
Mature size
Height: 0 ft. 6 in. - 1 ft. 0 in. | Width: 0 ft. 6 in. - 0 ft. 8 in.
Growth rate
Medium
Maintenance
Low
Canopy layer
4 - Herbaceous (1-3 ft)
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Clumping; Erect
Texture
Fine
Leaf color
Green
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf arrangement
Rosulate
Leaf shape
Linear
Leaf margin
Entire; Lobed
Leaf size
1-3 inches long, < 1 inch wide
Hairs present
No
Leaf detail
The leaves are 1-4 inches long, narrow and cylindrical, growing only at the base, in a dense cluster and may be divided into a few lobes.
Flower color
Gold/Yellow
Flower value
Showy
Flower form
Head; Solitary
Flower shape
Radial
Flower size
< 1 inch
Flower detail
1-inch wide yellow ray flowers with yellow disk flower centers grow singly atop the reddish stems. The ray petals have a notched tip. There are 8 yellow pointed bracts at the base of the flower and 8 green bracts below those.
Bloom time
Spring; Winter
Fruit color
Cream/Tan
Fruit type
Achene
Fruit detail
The oval tan fruit is a cypsela but often called an achene
Stem color
Green; Red/Burgundy
Stem detail
Leafless green to reddish stems
Wildlife & Ecology
Native status
Unknown
Origin
California, Arizona, and Mexico
Food & Medicine
Harvest time
Summer
Fruit type
Achene
Landscape Use
Landscape location
Naturalized Area
Landscape theme
Drought Tolerant Garden; Rock Garden
Design feature
Border
Garden tags
#non-toxic for cats #non-toxic for horses #non-toxic for dogs #border planting #yellow flowers #naturalized area #winter annual #annual herb #desert plant