Eastwoodia is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the aster family, Asteraceae (order Asterales), containing the single species Eastwoodia elegans, commonly known as the yellow mock aster or yellow aster. The genus was formally described by American botanist Townshend Stith Brandegee in 1894 (published in Zoe 4: 397), and its name honors the Canadian-American botanist Alice Eastwood (1859-1953), a pioneering curator of botany at the California Academy of Sciences.
Eastwoodia elegans is a woody shrub that sends up several erect, branched stems reaching up to 100 cm (about 40 inches) tall. Its stems are covered in a distinctive shredding bark, and it bears small leaves rarely exceeding 5 cm (2 inches) in length. Each plant produces multiple yellow flower heads composed of as many as 40 disc florets, notably lacking the ray florets typical of many other Asteraceae genera -- a feature that gives the species its "mock aster" common name, since it resembles a true aster but lacks true ray flowers.
The genus is endemic to California, occurring only on grasslands and hillsides of the central part of the state, from the San Francisco Bay Area south to the Tehachapi Mountains. As a monotypic genus with a narrow native range, Eastwoodia has no widely known cultivated forms or cultural uses documented in available sources; its taxonomic and horticultural interest lies chiefly in its restricted California endemism and its place within Asteraceae.
Etymology
The genus name honors Alice Eastwood (1859-1953), the Canadian-American botanist and long-time curator of botany at the California Academy of Sciences. The genus was described by Townshend Stith Brandegee in 1894.
Distribution
Eastwoodia elegans, the genus's sole species, is endemic to California, restricted to grasslands and hillsides of the central part of the state, from the San Francisco Bay Area south to the Tehachapi Mountains.
Ecology
The species grows on grasslands and hillsides, forming an erect, branched shrub up to 100 cm tall with shredding bark; its yellow flower heads bear disc florets only, without ray florets.
Taxonomy Notes
Eastwoodia Brandegee is a monotypic genus in Asteraceae (order Asterales), containing only Eastwoodia elegans; GBIF's backbone taxonomy confirms a single descendant species. It was published by Brandegee in 1894 (Zoe 4: 397, t. 30).
