General: Hairy False Goldenaster (Heterotheca cinerascens) is a low-growing shrub with green, upright stems and leaves with long hairs all over, but especially on the leaf edges. Flowerheads are long and borne at the tips of the stems.

Hairy False Goldenaster is an uncommon component of desert vegetation communities in drier areas along rocks ridges and slopes in the Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub) life zone. Where found, the plant can be common.

Around Las Vegas, look for this species in rocky areas around southern Nevada, locations such as Red Rock Canyon NCA, Desert National Wildlife Range, Basin and Range National Monument, and out in the Gold Butte Region.

Family: Sunflower (Asteraceae).

Other Names: Chrysopsis villosa, hairy golden aster, Heterotheca horrida ssp. cinerascens, Heterotheca villosa var. scabra.

Plant Form: Upright, brushy shrub.

Height: To about 18 inches.

Stems: Upright, green, stiff.

Leaves: long hairs on the edges.

Flowers: Blooms during spring. Inflorescence: flowerheads on tips of stems. Flowerheads large; ray and disk flowers yellow.

Seeds: achene.

Habitat: Rock crevices.

Elevation: About 4,000 to 4,500 feet.

Distribution: Mostly in the Great Basin province of Western North America: Nevada, NW Arizona, western Utah, and southern Idaho.

Comments: This genus was recently revised in Nesom, G.L. 2020. Taxonomic summary of Heterotheca (Asteraceae: Astereae): Sect. Chrysanthe. Phytoneuron 2020-68.