Lasthenia californica

California Goldfields is a vibrant, low-growing annual wildflower celebrated for turning expansive hillsides, open fields, and desert margins into sweeping, brilliant carpets of gold each spring. Following adequate winter rainfall, its mass blooms create one of the West's most spectacular floral displays while providing an invaluable early-season nectar source for native pollinators.

Indigenous peoples of California and the Southwest historically harvested the abundant tiny seeds of Lasthenia species. The seeds were parched, ground into a nutritious meal, and blended into pinole or staple seed pastes.