Southern Goldenbush
Isocoma pluriflora

Family: Sunflower (Asteraceae)
AKA: Southern Jimmyweed, Rayless Goldenrod
Photo taken on: June 29, 2020
Location: Red Wash Canyon, Abiquiu, NM
Life Zones: Plains and foothills
Habitat: Floodplains, washes, saline/alkaline soil

A yellow shrub that at first glance looks like a small Rabbitbrush but it only grows to about two feet tall compared to the Rabbitbrush which can be from two to nine feet tall. Its straw-colored stems have few branches and are not white hairy. Leaves are narrow and up to two inches long with smooth edges and sometimes shallow teeth, and are not twisted. Flowers have a faint, sweet fragrance and grow in dense clusters at the top of the stem. There are 7 to 15 flowers in a flower head each with no petals and 8 to 21 yellow disk flowers, Rabbitbrush have only 5 disk flowers.

Flora of North America reference.