Singlehead goldenbush, goldenweed

Macronema suffruticosa Nuttall, Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. 7: 322. 1840; Haplopappus suffruticosus (Nuttall) A. Gray

Plants 10–40 cm. Stems spreading to erect (bushes mostly broader than high), highly branched, green when young, becoming reddish brown, long-stipitate-glandular. Leaves ascending; blades oblanceolate, 5–40 × 2–7 mm, midnerves evident, (margins crispate) apices acute, faces long - stipitate-glandular; fascicles absent or of 1–3 leaves. Heads borne singly or (2–3) in (leafy) racemiform arrays (1–4 cm wide). Peduncles 2–20(–40) mm (bracts 1–10+, leaflike). Involucres campanulate, 9–15 × 10–15 mm. Phyllaries 17–31 in 2–3 series, green to tan, lanceolate to obovate, 8–18 × 1–4 mm, subequal, outer herbaceous or herbaceous-tipped, inner chartaceous to herbaceous-tipped, midnerves (+ 2 smaller, collateral nerves) often evident, (margins herbaceous or narrowly membranous, mostly stipitate glandular to fimbriate) apices acute to acuminate, abaxial faces stipitate-glandular. Ray florets (0–)1–8; laminae elliptic, 8–14 × 1.5–4 mm. Disc florets 15–40; corollas 8.5–10.5 mm. Cypselae narrowly turbinate to ellipsoid, 5.5–8 mm, villous; pappi tan, 7.5–9 mm. 2n = 18.

Flowering mid summer–fall. Rocky slopes and ridges in conifer forests and alpine zones; 2100–3500 m; Calif., Idaho, Mont., Nev., Oreg., Wyo.