Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

Chaenactis stevioides is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common names Esteve's pincushion and desert pincushion. It is native to the Great Basin of the United States and the southwestern deserts extending into Mexico, where it grows in open arid and semiarid habitat. It is "among the most abundant spring wildflowers in the higher Mojave Desert and southern Great Basin." This is an annual herb growing one or more erect stems up to about 45 centimeters tall. The stems are hairy with cobwebby fibers which thin with age. The leaves reach several centimeters in length and are divided into many subdivided lobes. The flower cluster bears several flower heads on a tall peduncle. Each head is lined with rigid, hairy and hairy phyllaries and filled with white, pink, or pale yellow flowers. The flowers around the edges are larger and open-faced, and the ones in the center of the head are smaller and somewhat tubular in shape. The fruit is an achene with a pappus of scales.

Plant type

Annual herb

Size

2 ft Tall

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Color

White, Cream, Yellow, Pink

Sun

Full Sun

Water

Low

Site type

Open places

Plant communities

Creosote Bush Scrub

Caterpillars
Butterflies

Butterflies and moths supported

0 confirmed and 4 likely

Confirmed Likely

Common Eupithacia

Eupithecia miserulata

Spotted Straw Sun Moth

Heliothis phloxiphaga

Fall Webworm

Hyphantria cunea

Ni Moth

Trichoplusia ni