Tender silverpuffs

Calaïs tenella A. Gray in War Department [U.S.], Pacif. Railr. Rep. 4(5): 114, plate 17, figs. 6–10. 1857; C. aphantocarpha A. Gray; Microseris aphantocarpha (A. Gray) Schultz-Bipontinus; M. tenella (A. Gray) Schultz-Bipontinus; M. tenella var. aphantocarpha (A. Gray) S. F. Blake

Cypselae truncate-fusiform, 3–6.5 mm (tapered to basal callosities, widest beyond middles, filled by embryos), ribs constricted at apices; pappi usually of deltate or ovate, arcuate, usually plane or barely involute scales 0.5–1 mm, shorter than cypselae, sometimes nearly obsolete. 2n = 18.

Flowering Mar-–Jun. Sandy or clay soils, flats and hillsides, sometimes on serpentine slopes, grasslands and open oak woodlands; 0–500 m; Calif.

Subspecies tenella intergrades completely with subsp. douglasii in west-central California. It occurs near the immediate coast; morphologic variation and chloroplast DNA suggest a history of hybridization with M. bigelovii.