I saw this guy while I was running in the early morning. He tried crossing the road to escape me but I saved him just in time from being run over.
The herbaceous plant was a perennial, with green, narrow leaves and a distinct flower head. It was coated with many small white flowers, and other plants had fluffy seed pods. It grew in the almost barren Coastal Sage Scrub.
I saw this guy while I was running in the early morning. He tried crossing the road to escape me but I saved him just in time from being run over.
The cactus was smaller, and wasn't in a large, mature thicket as seen in older stands. It's pads were newer and was along a ridge above weedy fields.