General:
Perennial herb from 1-several thickened fleshy roots; stems erect, simple or several, branching, leafy below, glabrous or scaly, exuding milky juice when broken, 10-70 cm tall.

Leaves:
Basal leaves variable, linear to lanceolate or spoon-shaped, entire to toothed or finely pinnately cut with slender lobes, glabrous or scaly; stem leaves similar.

Flowers:
Heads with strap-shaped flowers, solitary at ends of branches, nodding until mature; involucres cylindric to bell-shaped, 8-22 mm tall; involucral bracts glabrous dorsally or often scaly-hairy, the inner ones lanceolate-pointed, the outer ones unequal, shorter and graduated or nearly so, linear to egg-shaped; ray flowers yellow.

Fruits:
Achenes columnar or narrowly spindle-shaped, grey to brown, glabrous or hairy, 3.5-8 mm long; pappus 5-10 mm long, of 15-30 narrow scales, each bearing a long, bright white, feathery bristle.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.

Illustration Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Flower Colour:
Yellow

Blooming Period:
Late Spring

Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: White
Present over the Summer

Source:  The USDA

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Microseris nutans subsp. nutans (Hook.) Schultz-Bip.
Ptilocalais nutans (Hook.) Greene
Scorzonella nutans Hook.
Scorzonella nutans var. major (A. Gray) M. Peck