Eriophyllum confertiflorum, commonly called golden yarrow or yellow yarrow, is a North American species of plant in the family Asteraceae, native to California and Baja California. It has wooly leaves when young, and yellow flower heads.[1] "Eriophyllum" means "wooly leaved."[1] [2]
Eriophyllum confertiflorum gets its common name from the similar appearance of its inflorescence to the true yarrow, which has white flowers.[1] [3] [4]
Eriophyllum confertiflorum is a highly variable plant which is generally a small shrub. It grows primarily in the Sierra Nevada and Coastal Ranges in California and Baja California. It can be found in a number of plant communities and habitats. In the Santa Monica Mountains of California, it is common in open places that are away from the coast.[1]
Eriophyllum confertiflorum grows in large clumps or stands of many erect stems often exceeding 50cm (20inches) in height. Botanist Nancy Dale describes the growth pattern as "tidy".[1] Leaves are alternate.[1] Leaves and stems are whitish when young, because of being covered in wooly white hairs, then become greenish to gray-green.[1] Leaves have 3-5 deep lobes.[1] Yellow flowers are crowded in the head, which is up to NaNinches across, flat-topped, with both disc flowers and ray flowers.[1] "Confertiflorum" means densely flowered.[1] It blooms from January to July.[1] The fruit is an achene with a very short pappus. The top of each stem forms an inflorescence of up to 30 flower heads, each bright golden yellow head with a large center of disc florets and usually a fringe of rounded to oval ray florets.[5]
