Alternate name: New Mexico Plumseed

Family: Asteraceae, Aster view all from this family

Description A smooth, sparsely-leaved, grayish-green plant with white flower heads at the ends of the few branches. Sap milky.
Flowers: heads 1-1 1/2" (2.5-3.8 cm) wide, with flowers all of ray type, often purplish on back side, the longest ones 5/8" (15 mm) long, and short outer bracts with slender tips curling back.
Leaves: those at base 2-8" (5-20 cm) long, pinnately divided into narrow lobes; upper leaves much smaller.
Fruit: seed-like, with a slender, rigid stalk bearing feathery hairs at top, the stalk not quite as long as the narrow fruit.
Height: 6-20" (15-50 cm).

Flower March-May.

Habitat Sandy or gravelly flats or slopes in deserts, often supported by shrubs.

Range Se. California and s. Utah to the tip of w. Texas; south to Mexico.

Discussion The genus name honors C. S. Rafinesque, an eccentric early naturalist. Two similar species in the same region are California Plumeseed (R. californica), with smaller heads and the stalk on the fruit longer than the body, and Tackstem (Calycoseris wrightii), with tack-shaped glands beneath the head.