Already some of our native coast dandelions, Agoseris apargioides var. eastwoodiae, are in flower on the bluffs above Kehoe Beach. These plants have fleshy, barely-notched entire leaves and large heads of yellow flowers.
The new treatment of the genus Agoseris in the Jepson Manual 2 says this is the only variety of A. apargioides in the County. The leaf-shape of perennial Agoseris plants on the Pt. Reyes Peninsula varies a lot from those from the location mentioned above in the degree of hairiness and notching of the leaves.
In identifying most of the dandelion-like yellow-flowered Asteraceae it is useful to look at the shape and arrangement of the involucral bracts (phyllaries) under the flower head to find the correct genus.
From above these yellow dandelions, native and foreign, look very similar. Other perennial members of this tribe (Lactuceae) of the Asteraceae on Pt. Reyes include the rare Microseris paludosa and the weed Hypochaeris radicata.
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