California chicory

Plants 20–150 cm. Involucres 12–20 mm. Ligules surpassing phyllaries by 5–7 mm. Cypselae light tan or sordid, 9–14 mm, including very slender beaks 5–7 mm; pappi of 6–15, wholly plumose bristles, barbs straight, separate. 2n = 16.

Flowering Apr–Jun. Open places in coastal sage scrub, chaparral, oak woodlands in northern and coastal California and southwestern Oregon (often found after fires), Upper Sonoran Zone; 100–1500 m; Ariz., Calif., Nev., Oreg.; Mexico (Baja California).