The features of this highly variable species are described more as regional trends than absolutes. With up to 30 slender stems 8–36-inches tall with compact branching, the bushy, upright plant varies from hairless to densely hairy. Note the bright-yellow, quarter-sized flowers and leaves lined with white bristle-tipped lobes.

FLOWER: May–November. Blooming singly on the branch tips, the flower heads are 1–1 1/4-inches wide (25–30 mm) with 14–60 yellow, narrow, petal-like ray flowers with pointed tips. The rays surround a yellow disk. The 5–6 rows of phyllaries or bracts beneath the rays are yellowish with a greenish tip, and topped with a white bristle. The seed head is a hairy puffball.

LEAVES: Alternate. Blades 1/2–1 1/4-inches long (12–30 mm), linear with entire margins, or oblong to lance-shaped and narrow with 4–18 deep lobes or teeth per side, each with a white bristle tip (use lens).

HABITAT: Rocky, sandy soils, roadsides, disturbed areas; shortgrass prairies, desert grasslands and scrub, pinyon-juniper woodlands.

ELEVATION: 3,200–7,700 feet.

RANGE: AZ, CA, CO, NM, NV, TX UT; widespread Rocky Mountain states and westward.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Flora of North America advises that descriptions in keys to this highly variable species apply generally to populations, not necessarily to all individuals. The annual Slender Goldenweed, X. gracile (Machaeranthera gracilis), in the western 2/3 of NM, has 12–18 (26) yellow ray flowers and narrow, erect linear leaves held near the stem, with 3–6 tiny, bristle-tips (use lens) per side. Sleepy Daisy, X. texanum, in the eastern plains of NM, has smooth leaves with upper leaves smaller and without teeth, and phyllaries without bristle tips.

NM COUNTIES: Statewide in low- to mid-elevation arid habitats.