Smooth Goldfields Seeds (Lasthenia glabrata)

Native to most of California, this electric-yellow flowered annual is adaptable to a broader range of the continent, growing with perfect joy from southern BC to Baja (without being invasive outside of its strictly native range).

Smooth goldfields is a small plant – just mere inches in height, but explosive with color – especially in winter-saturated soils that dry out in spring – transforming drab, muddy ground into massive color bursts as the ground dries out and the weather warms.

This plant is a microcosm of early spring energy, attracting scores of hoverflies, solitary wasps, and various bees. Some of the known associates of smooth goldfields include: the golden-haired mining bee (Andrena auricoma), the caerulean mining bee (Andrena caerulea), the green-bellied mining bee (Andrena chlorogaster), the greenish burrowing bee (Andrena cuneilabris), the pale-faced mining bee (Andrena pallidifovea), Piper’s mining bee (Andrena piperi), and various less familiar colleagues, such as Andrena baeriae, Andrena cercocarpi, Andrena chlorura, Andrena dissimulans, Andrena layiae, Andrena misella, Andrena nigroclypeata, Andrena orthocarpi, Andrena pensilis, Andrena puthua, Andrena santaclarae, Andrena suavis, Andrena submoesta, Andrena subtrita, Andrena viridissima, Panurginus gracilis, Panurginus nigrellus, Nomada obscurella, Osmia glauca, Lasthenia burkei, and Baeria burkei.

Plant in and around seasonal wetlands, bioswales, urban meadows, ephemeral pools, or rain gardens. This plant is the essence of spring!

Approximately 400 seeds (0.2 grams).