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Humboldt mule-ears

Wyethia longicaulis

Also called Humboldt County Wyethia

Humboldt mule-ears
Photo: Justin Paulin, CC BY 4.0

Humboldt mule-ears is a native California perennial wildflower of the daisy family, with large leaves and yellow flower heads, found in mountain grassland and forest. It is best grown in the open ground of its native range rather than as a houseplant.

Family
Asteraceae (Daisy family)
Grows as
Perennial
Light
Full sun, Part shade
Water
Water sparingly once established; it tolerates dry summers.
Soil
Well-drained soil, including rocky or gravelly mixes.
Temperature
Hardy to cold winters typical of mountain California; protect seedlings from heavy frost.
How easy
Moderate
Native range
California

About

Wyethia longicaulis is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name Humboldt mule's ears. It is endemic to California, where it occurs in the North Coast Ranges and the Klamath Mountains. It grows in mountain and foothill habitat such as grassland and forests. It is a perennial herb growing from a tough taproot and caudex unit and producing a stem up to half a meter tall. It is hairless to hairy and glandular. The leaves have lance-shaped or oblong blades up to 20 centimeters long. They are glandular and have a waxy exudate that dries white. The inflorescence is usually a cluster of 2 to 4 flower heads, each with up to 10 yellow ray florets which may be up to 3 centimeters long. The fruit is an achene about a centimeter long, including its tiny pappus.

Other Wyethia plants

Balsamorhiza sagittata · Mule-ears · California compassplant · Arizona mule-ears · Coast Range mule-ears · Whitehead mule-ears · Woolly mule-ears · Mule-ears

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Wyethia longicaulis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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