Pectis papposa Harv. & Gray

Annuals, 1–30 cm (often forming rounded bushes); herbage spicy-scented. Stems ascending, glabrous or puberulent. Leaves linear, 10–60 × 1–2 mm, margins with 1–3 pairs of setae, faces glabrous (dotted on margins with round to oval oil-glands 0.3–0.5 mm). Heads in congested or open, cymiform arrays. Peduncles 3–40 mm. Involucres campanulate to cylindric. Phyllaries distinct, linear, 3–8 × 0.5–1.7 mm (dotted with 1–5 subterminal oil-glands plus 2–5 pairs of submarginal oil-glands). Ray florets (7–)8(–10); corollas 3–8 mm. Disc florets 6–34; corollas 2–5.5 mm (weakly 2-lipped, glabrous or glandular-puberulent). Cypselae 2–5.5 mm, strigillose to short-pilose (hair tips curled, bulbous); ray pappi usually coroniform, rarely of 1+ awns or bristles 1–4 mm; disc pappi usually of 16–24, subplumose bristles 1.5–4 mm, rarely coroniform.

Sandy and clay flats from sea level to 1500 metres in deserts and creosote bush scrub in California. Deserts, desert grasslands, dry woodlands and roadsides at elevations of 60-1500 metres.

The seeds are parched and ground and used to make a porridge. They are also used in soups. The fresh plant is dipped in salt water and eaten with cornmeal as a condiment. The flowers are used for seasoning meat.

Can be grown by seedlings.