Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

Layia chrysanthemoides is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common name smooth tidytips, or smooth layia. It is endemic to California, where it lives in several types of habitat along the coast an in inland hills and valleys. This is an annual herb producing an erect, nonhairy stem to a maximum height near half a meter. The leaves are linear or lance-shaped with prickly or fuzzy edges. The lower leaves may be lobed and grow up to about 10 centimeters long. The flower heads are cups of hairy-edged phyllaries with a fringe of white-tipped golden ray florets around a tightly packed center of yellow disc florets with purple anthers. The fruit is an achene; fruits on the disc florets often have a white bristly pappus.

Plant type

Annual herb

Size

2 ft Tall

Calscape icon
Color

Yellow, White

Sun

Full Sun

Ease of care

Moderate

Sunset Zones

7, 8*, 9*, 14*, 15*, 16*, 17*, 19*, 20*, 21*, 22*, 23*, 24*

Site type

Grassy places, open places with heavy soil

Plant communities

Foothill Woodland, Northern Coastal Scrub, Valley Grassland, Wetland-Riparian

Bees
Caterpillars
Butterflies

Butterflies and moths supported

0 confirmed and 1 likely

Confirmed Likely

Small Heliothodes Moth

Heliothodes diminutivus