Soft goldenaster

Chrysopsis pilosa Nuttall, J. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 7: 66. 1834; C. nuttallianum Britton; Diplogon nuttallii Kuntze; Heterotheca pilosa (Nuttall) Shinners

Annuals, 15–80 cm; taprooted. Stems erect, branched distally (rarely at base), sparsely to densely pilose. Leaves: basal oblanceolate, 50–100 × 10–25 mm, margins entire to apically dentate, pilose, apices acute, faces pilose; cauline linear-elliptic, reduced distally to 10 mm or less, margins obscurely dentate or entire. Heads 1–30(–70). Peduncles 1.5–7 cm, short-pilose, sometimes stipitate-glandular distally; bracts foliaceous, grading to linear scales. Phyllaries in 3–4 series, linear, unequal, margins scarious, faces sparsely to densely short- to long-pilose, sparsely glandular. Ray florets (11–)16(–24); laminae 7–12 × 1–2 mm. Disc florets 25–60, bisexual, fertile; corollas 4.5–6 mm, lobes 0.5 mm. Cypselae stramineous to brown, obconic-obovoid, compressed (narrowly elliptic in cross section), smooth or slightly ribbed, faces short-strigose; pappi in 2(–3) series, outer of light tan, flat scales 0.5–1.1 mm, inner 1(–2) of yellow to rust proximally, whitish to tan distally, linear, barbellate bristles 5–6 mm. 2n = 8.

Flowering late spring–early summer. Sandy and rocky soils, dry prairies, fields, glades, roadsides; 10–400 m; Ark., Kans., La., Miss., Mo., Okla., Tenn., Tex.

Bradburia pilosa grows in the western coastal plain province, southwestern central lowlands province, lower elevations of the Ozark Plateau province, and has possibly been introduced at a few locations in the interior low plateau province. It has possibly been introduced at a few sites in Kentucky, North Carolina, Virginia, and in Leon County, Florida.