Golden Yarrow
Eriophyllum confertiflorum
Family: Asteraceae (Aster)
Flowers — color: yellow, size: 1/4", type: daisy (compound)

Many bright yellow flower clusters top the Golden Yarrow. Each cluster, typically one inch wide, holds several to a dozen flower heads. Each flower head, roughly 1/2", has five or more petals, but each petal is actually a ray floret having ony stamens, and a core of a dozen disk florets with male and female parts. The species name, confertiflorum, translates as 'densely flowered'.

Yarrow flower and cluster detail: yellow ray and disk florets in rounded cluster Yarrow flower clusters, wider view sideview of stem with branching, tipped by flower clusters Yarrow sparse form with many upright stems old Yarrow flower stems don't have many leaves

Habit:
Scrawny, dusty, and ugly perennials for most of the year, Golden Yarrows become Cinderellas when they bloom. Each plant will produce many vertical stems that grow one to two feet tall and branch occasionally. The stems carry small multi-lobed leaves, green to gray-green in color. The stems and leaf undersides may seem wooly, the translation of the genus name, Eriophyllum.

Sunny open spaces in coastal scrub, chaparral, and oak woodland, road shoulders. Golden Yarrow is a fire-follower, rebounding quickly. Only 25% of seeds germinate in normal seasons. The alkaline leach from ash may help dissolve the coatings on dormant seeds, encouraging germination.

Note: unrelated and very different from Common Yarrow.