Yellow pincushion is a slender, 1-few branched, thinly floccose to glabrous annual growing to about 24" tall.  Its leaves are alternate, 1-2 pinnately cleft into narrow linear lobes to 1/4" long, the upper ones linear and entire, and with a basal rosette generally withering.  There are 1-several floral heads per stem, discoid, the corollas of the outer flowers larger than those of the more central ones, and bright yellow.
An extremely variable and widespread species, yellow pincushion may be found in dry open places in grassland, coastal sage scrub and chaparral, also sandy places, to about 4500' throughout most of the California Floristic Province.  It is a fire follower, and blooms from March to June.  These pictures are from the Santa Monica and Verdugo Mountains.

Click here for name derivations: 1) Chaenactis 2) glabriuscula.
Pronunciation: kee-NAK-tis glay-bree-YOO-skew-la.
Click here for Botanical Term Meanings.