Eucephalus vialis

Eucephalus vialis is a rare North American species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name wayside aster. It is native to southwestern Oregon and northwestern California in the United States. Eucephalus vialis is a perennial herb producing hairy, erect stems up to 1.2 meters (4 feet) tall from a thick caudex. It spreads by means of rhizomes. The middle and upper leaves are widely lance-shaped and measure up to 9 centimeters (3.6 inches) long by 3 cm (1.2 inches) wide. The lower leaves are smaller and scale-like. They are coated with glandular hairs. They are dull green and sometimes toothed. The inflorescence is a small or very large array of flower heads. Each is about a centimeter (0.4 inches) long and has layers of narrow phyllaries. Each head contains several yellow disc florets but no ray florets. However, some plants may have vestigial rays. Flowering occurs in July through September. While the plants sometimes reproduce sexually via seed, the populat......read more on Wikipedia.