General: Shockley's Goldenhead (Acamptopappus shockleyi) is a low growing, mounded shrub with short, narrow leaves. The plant is generally inconspicuous on the landscape, but in spring, the flowers are large and bright yellow. The involucre (group of bracts that form the base of the flower) is unusually globose, and the phyllaries (the bracts individually) each have a large green spot.

Shockley's Goldenhead is a fairly component of vegetation communities on well-drained sandy, gravelly, and rocky soils in washes and on upper bajadas and moderate slopes into the lower mountains in the Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub and Pinyon-Juniper Woodland) life zones.

Family: Sunflower (Asteraceae).

Other Names:

Plant Form: Low-growing, mounded shrub.

Height: Usually less than 18 inches.

Bark: Grayish.

Stems:

Leaves: Blade to about 1 inch long, narrow; oblanceolate; tiny hairs create a rough texture.

Flowers: Blooms in spring. Inflorescence: sunflower-type flowerheads. Involucre globose. Ray flower count: 5–14; ligules about 2 cm long, 6 mm wide. Disk flower count: 30–80.

Seeds: Achene.

Habitat: Dry, well-drained sandy, gravelly, and rocky soils on upper bajadas and moderate slopes in the lower mountains.

Elevation: About 1,000 to 6,000 ft.

Distribution: Southern California and Nevada deserts.

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