San Francisco lessingia

Lessingia germanorum is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name San Francisco lessingia. It is endemic to California, where it is known from four populations in the Presidio of San Francisco and one occurrence on San Bruno Mountain south of San Francisco. It is a state and federally listed endangered species. The already rare plant is endangered by many processes, including invasive species, development, sand mining, off-road vehicles and bulldozers, habitat fragmentation, trampling, and pollution, as well as stochastic events.

This is an annual herb producing a decumbent to erect, reddish stem no more than 30 centimeters long. The deeply lobed leaves are up to 3 or 4 centimeters long. Some leaves and new stem parts are coated in woolly fibers. The inflorescence is a solitary flower head or cluster of heads at the tip of the stem. The bell-shaped involucre is lined with pointed phyllaries that curl back as the head matures. The head is discoid, with no ray florets but several tubular golden disc florets with raylike lobes. The plant blooms in July through November. The fruit is an achene with a whitish pappus.