Bristleleaf Pricklyleaf

Annuals (rarely persisting), green, to 30 cm, glabrous or sparsely hirtellous. Stems decumbent to erect. Leaves mostly alternate (sometimes opposite at 1–3 proximal nodes); blades usually lobed, 12–28 mm overall, lobes 7–15, linear to filiform, pliable (blades mostly not lobed in var. wrightii. Peduncles 30–80 mm, glabrous or hirtellous. Calyculi of 3–8 deltate to subulate bractlets, lengths less than ¹/2 phyllaries. Involucres obconic, 5–7 mm. Phyllaries 12–22, margins of outer distinct less than ¹/5 their lengths, abaxial faces glabrous or sparsely hirtellous. Ray florets 10–21; corollas yellow-orange, laminae 4–10 × 1.5–3 mm. Disc florets 50–100+; corollas yellow, 2.5–4.5 mm (peripheral ± zygomorphic in some plants). Cypselae 2–3.5 mm; pappi of erose and/or aristate scales 0.7–3.5 mm.

Hymenatherum tenuilobum de Candolle in A. P. de Candolle and A. L. P. P. de Candolle, Prodr. 5: 462. 1836; Dyssodia tenuiloba (de Candolle) B. L. Robinson

Thymophylla tenuiloba (DC.) Small, Fl. SE. U. S. 1295. 1903
Hymenatherum tenuilobum DC. Prodr. 5: 642. 1836.
Hymenatherum tenuifolium A. Gray, PI. Wright. 1: 118. 1852. Not H. lenuifolium Cass. 1821.
Dyssodia tenuiloba B. L. Robinson, Proc. Am. Acad. 49: 508. 1913.
A puberulent perennial; stems diffusely branched, 1-2 dm. high; leaves mostly alternate, 2-3 cm. long, pinnatifid, with 9-13 filiform, spinulose-tipped segments; peduncles 3-5 cm. long; involucre turbinate, 5-6 mm. high, 7-8 mm. broad, with a calyculum of 3-6 lanceolate bracts 1-2 mm. long; principal bracts 15-20, linear-oblong, united to near the tips, practically in one series, the deltoid or ovate lobes erose, scarcely overlapping, with 1-5 conspicuous glands, perfectly glabrous; ligules oblong, 3-4 mm. long, 1.5 mm. wide; disk-corollas 2.5 mm. long; tube shorter than the trumpet-shaped throat; lobes ovate; achenes 3 mm. long, hispidulous on the angles; squamellae 10, nearly alike, 2 mm. long, all or most of them 3-awned, the middle awn much longer.
Type locality: Near Bexar, Texas. Distribution: Texas and Coahuila.

Thymophylla tenuiloba, also known as the bristleleaf pricklyleaf, Dahlberg daisy, small bristleleaf pricklyleaf, golden fleece, or shooting star, is a bushy, multi-branched flowering annual from the family Asteraceae. Native to south central Texas and northern Mexico, it produces a large number of small, yellow flowers and demonstrates a trailing habit. It is tolerant of heat and dry conditions and is sometimes sold as a summertime annual plant in areas beyond its native range.

The plant was once known as Hymenatherum tenuilobum in the De Candolle system.

The species is naturalized in Queensland in Australia.