Coast goldenbush is an erect shrubby perennial with slender, leafy, branching stems growing to 4' tall.  It is quite variable but generally has a resinous exudate especially on the leaves, which are alternate, crowded, linear to linear-spatulate, entire or somewhat spinose-toothed, glabrous or with a glandular pubescence, and with an obtuse to acute tip.  Quite often there are also prominent axillary fascicles.  The upper leaves are reduced and tend to be more entire-margined.  The numerous discoid flower heads are in dense terminal clusters and have phyllaries well-imbricated in 3-6 series, each of which has green mucronate tips.  There are 12-22 disk flowers with a pappus of many brownish hair-like bristles, and no ray flowers.  Coast goldenbush is common in dry sandy slopes and flats of coastal sage scrub and coastal strand from San Diego Co. to c. California, and blooms from April to December.  There are several subspecies or variants of Isocoma menziesii and this one is most probably vernonioides.  These pictures were taken in Lower Zuma Canyon and Point Dume in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreational Area.

Click here for Latin name derivations: 1) Isocoma 2) menziesii  3) vernonioides.
Pronunciation: eye-so-KO-ma MEN-zees-ee-eye ver-non-ee-OI-dees.
Click here for Botanical Term Meanings.