Smooth Mule Ears

Coast Range Mule Ears, Shining Mule Ears
Wyethia glabra
NATIVE – CA ENDEMIC

Description (Jepson, PlantID.net)

• Eudicotyledon
  • Eudicots are a major lineage of flowering plants; see family for general characteristics
• Sunflower Family (Asteraceae)
• Perennial herb
  • Grows from a taproot and caudex (persistent, often woody base of a perennial herb)
• Leaves
  • Mostly basal, alternate
  • Large (to 18 in.), wide, lance-shaped to oval
  • Usually shiny, smooth, and hairless
  • Cauline leaves (along the stem) similar but smaller
• Flowers
  • Inflorescence (flower arrangement) usually a single golden-yellow flowerhead
  • Radiate head (see Sunflower family), up to 2 in. in diameter
    • 20-27 outer 3-lobed ray flowers, up to 2in. long, suggesting petals
    • 35-150+ central disk flowers
  • Phyllaries (vase-like floral bracts, collectively called the involucre) in 2-3 series, with the outer large and leaf-like, ≥ the ray flowers
  • Stalk of the entire inflorescence (peduncle) 8-12 in. long and softly hairy
  • Ovary inferior (below the attachment of other flower parts)
• Fruit is an achene (a single-seeded, dry fruit that does not split open), more specifically called a cypsela because of the inferior position of the ovary
  • Ray and disk flowers both produce fruits
• Height to 16 in.

Distribution

• Native and endemic (limited) to California
  • Grows generally in shady areas
  • See Calflora for statewide observations of this plant
• Grows at elevations to 3,120 ft.

Uses (San Mateo County Parks prohibits removal of any natural material)

• Wildlife
  • Frequented by numerous insects including butterflies seeking nectar, e.g. monarch (Danaus plexippus), variable checkerspot (Euphydryas chalcedona), and propertius duskywing (Erynnis propertius)
  • Larval food source (host) for the painted lady butterfly (Vanessa cardui)
• Native people
  • Young plant shoots eaten (Anderson 2005)
  • Seeds used in pinole or eaten fresh
    • Pinole is a general term for various flours made from the ground, toasted seeds of wildflowers and grasses, eaten dry or moistened and shaped into balls or cakes (Anderson 2005)
    • “Pinole” is a Hispanic version of an Aztec word

Name Derivation

• Wyethia (wy-ETH-ee-a) – named in 1834 by botanist Thomas Nuttall for Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth (1802-1856), an American inventor (e.g. ice harvesting tools), plant collector, and explorer
  • Wyeth was an Oregon pioneer, establishing the pathway that became known as the Oregon trail, and is distantly related to the painter Andrew Wyeth
• glabra (GLAY-bra) – from the Latin, meaning “smooth or hairless” referring to the leaf
• Mule ears – referring to the shape of the leaves, which are particularly large and wide on some species, e.g. smooth mule ears

Notes

• Flora of North America notes that “Wyethia glabra grows in the Coast Ranges, often in the fog belt”
  • At Edgewood, this species is found at the north side of the preserve, which is most influenced by coastal fog from the HIghway 92 cut

ID Tips

• May be confused with narrow-leaved mule ears (W. angustifolia)

	Narrow-leaved Mule Ears	Smooth Mule Ears
Leaves	narrow, often wavy-edged … rough or hairy	wide, smooth-edged … smooth and shiny
Phyllaries¹	shorter than ray flowers	longer than ray flowers
Habitat	full sun … open grasslands	part shade … woodland edges

At Edgewood

• Found usually in part shade, often at the margin of woodlands
  • See iNaturalist for observations of this plant
• Flowers March – June

Specific References

Anderson, M.K. 2005. Tending the Wild. University of California, Berkeley.

Caldwell, J.A. 2014. California Plants as Resources for Lepidoptera: a Guide for Gardeners, Restorationists and Naturalists.

Mitchell, M. 2017. Asteraceae: Sunflower family – Heliantheae (sunflower) tribe: miscellaneous 2. Monterey County Wildflowers, Trees, and Ferns – A Photographic Guide.

Shapiro, A.M., and T.D. Manolis. 2007. Field Guide to Butterflies of the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento Valley Regions. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, California.

General References

Calflora Database. 2014. Berkeley, California.

Calscape. 2018. California Native Plant Society.

Charters, M.L. 2015. California Plant Names: Latin and Greek Meanings and Derivations.

Charters, M.L. 2017. Southern California Wildflowers: Guide to the Pronunciation of Specific, Generic and Family Names.

Corelli, T. 2004. Flowering Plants of Edgewood Natural Preserve (2nd. ed.). Monocot Press, Half Moon Bay, California.

Dave’s Garden.

Elpel, T.J. 2013. Botany in a Day: The Patterns Method of Plant Identification. HOPS Press, Pony, Montana.

Flora of North America. efloras.org.

Harris, J.G., and M.W. Harris. 2013. Plant Identification Terminology: An Illustrated Glossary. Spring Lake Publishing, Spring Lake, Utah.

Keator, G. 2009. California Plant Families. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, California.

Native American Ethnobotany DB.

Regents of the University of California. Jepson eFlora. Jepson Herbarium. University of California, Berkeley.