Fineleaf Hymenopappus (3)
Fineleaf Hymenopappus is easily overlooked because it has no ray flowers and small flower heads. It is usually a woolly/hairy plant with stems branching from a rosette or mound of basal leaves. Leaves are twice-divided into narrow or thread-like leaflets which are sometimes covered in woolly hairs, giving a grey appearance. Enlarged tubular disk flowers have five lobes and range in color from very yellow to almost white. There are 13 varieties of this species according to Flora of North America. These are some which I have identified from normal photos and one I cannot, they all seem different to me; the growth habit varies, as does the number of basal leaves, woolliness and thickness of leaflets. See the similar Chalk Hill Hymenopappus differentiated by being a biennial with a single flowering stem and whitish disk flowers.
Fineleaf Hymenopappus
Hymenopappus filifolius var. lugens
Family:
Sunflower (Asteraceae)
AKA:
Woolly-white, Woolly Hymenopappus, Cream
Tips,
Columbia Cutleaf, Threadleaf Sunflower
Photo taken on:
May 15, 2009
Location:
White Rock, NM
Life Zones:
Plains and foothills
Habitat:
Dry,
sandy, gravelly, open areas
Grows from 8" to 24" high with whitish stems branching
from a mound of basal leaves which are densely woolly at the base.
Leaves are twice-divided into narrow leaflets covered in woolly hairs,
giving a grey appearance. Stems have few leaves and branch into multiple
flower heads which have pale, woolly bracts and no ray flowers. Flower
heads are ¼" to ½" high and can be yellowish or whitish. 
Flora of North America reference
Manyhead Hymenopappus
Hymenopappus filifolius var. polycephalus
Family:
Sunflower (Asteraceae)
AKA:
Photo taken on:
May 29, 2016
Location:
Wet Mountains, Eastern CO
Life Zones:
Plains and foothills
Habitat:
Dry,
sandy, open areas
Growing to 16" high with multiple flower stems. Leaflets are not woolly except at the base and are a soft green. Flowers are bright yellow with yellow/greenish woolly bracts.
Flora of North America reference
Fineleaf Hymenopappus
Hymenopappus filifolius var cinereus (H. arenosus)
Family:
Sunflower (Asteraceae)
AKA:
Fineleaf Wooly-white
Photo taken on:
June 16, 2017
Location:
Espinosa Trail, Abiquiu, NM
Life Zones:
Plains and foothills
Habitat:
Dry, sandy, open areas
Grows to 2 ½ feet high covered in dense white hair in a more rounded bushy form. Basal and stem leaflets are very finely divided. Flowers are less than ½" across and yellow.
Flora of North America reference
Fineleaf Hymenopappus UFO
Hymenopappus filifolius
Family:
Sunflower (Asteraceae)
AKA:
Photo taken on:
May 23, 2016
Location:
Red Wash Canyon, Abiquiu, NM
Growing to 16" high with multiple flower stems. Leaflets are not woolly and a soft green. Flowers are white with greenish, woolly bracts with reddish margins. On different plants stigmas are pink or yellow, both turning brown.
