Common names:
Spanish needle, desert palafox
Family:
Scientific name:
Palafoxia arida
Main flower color:
Range:
The Mojave and Sonoran deserts (AZ, CA, NV, UT), and some nearby areas
Height:
Up to 6 feet
Habitat:
Sandy locations in desert areas, from near sea level to 3,000 feet
Leaves:
Alternate, linear to narrowly lanceolate, up to 4 inches long and 2 inches wide
Season:
February to May
Palafoxia arida is a plant of the Sonoran and Mojave deserts, where it can grow up to 6 feet tall. Stems are slender, branched, rough and sparsely hairy; the hairs may be glandular towards the top. Leaves are thin and narrow, attached by stalks around half an inch long.
The involucres are narrow and relatively long, ringed by narrow, linear, equally-sized phyllaries, up to 1 inch in length; and also often glandular-hairy. Flowerheads lack ray florets; they have between 9 to 40 five-lobed, tubular ray florets, colored white to pale pink, with purple style and anthers. Lobes are triangular, as are the anther tips. The floret tube is longer than the lobes.
The involucres are narrow and relatively long, ringed by narrow, linear, equally-sized phyllaries, up to 1 inch in length; and also often glandular-hairy. Flowerheads lack ray florets; they have between 9 to 40 five-lobed, tubular ray florets, colored white to pale pink, with purple style and anthers. Lobes are triangular, as are the anther tips. The floret tube is longer than the lobes.
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