| Xylorhiza tortifolia | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Asterales |
| Family: | Asteraceae |
| Genus: | Xylorhiza |
| Species: | X. tortifolia |
| Binomial name | |
| Xylorhiza tortifolia | |
| Synonyms | |
Xylorhiza tortifolia is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, known by the common names Mojave-aster and Mojave woodyaster. [3]
The flowering plant is native to the Mojave Desert, Sonoran Desert, and Great Basin Desert ecoregions of the southwestern United States, California, and northwestern Mexico. [4]
It grows in arid canyons and bajadas/washes, from 240–2,000 metres (790–6,560 ft) in elevation. Habitats it is found in include creosote bush scrub, saltbush scrub, and Joshua tree woodlands. [3]
Xylorhiza tortifolia is a perennial herb or subshrub with branching, hairy, glandular stems that reach 60–80 centimetres (24–31 in) in height/length. The leaves are linear, lance-shaped, or oval, with pointed or spiny tips and spiny edges. The leaf surfaces are hairy and glandular.
The inflorescence is a solitary flower head borne on a long peduncle. The head has a base with long, narrow phyllaries which may be over 2 centimeters long. The head contains up to 60 or more lavender, pale blue, or white ray florets which may be over 3 centimeters long. The bloom period is March through June. [3]
The fruit is an achene which may be over a centimeter long, including its pappus of bristles.
Desert species of this aster with a woody base (Xylorhiza means woody base) are classified under the genus Xylorhiza , and have been removed from the large and complex genus Machaeranthera , where they were placed for many decades. [9] A similar species, Xylorhiza wrightii−Big Bend aster, is native to the Chihuahuan Desert in western Texas and northern Mexico. [9]
The Havasupai used the plant for incense and fragrance, with ground leaves carried in the clothes and used as perfume by men and women to counteract body odors. [10]
Phacelia fremontii is a flowering plant in the family Boraginaceae native to the southwestern United States. In California, its range includes the Mojave Desert, the San Joaquin Valley, the Coast Ranges, and the Sierra Nevada. It was named for John C. Frémont.
Xylorhiza is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, known as woodyasters. These are daisylike wildflowers usually having blue to purple or white ray flowers with yellow centers of disc florets. Woodyasters are native to western North America.
Cirsium occidentale, with the common name cobweb thistle or cobwebby thistle, is a North American species of thistle in the sunflower family.
Ericameria laricifolia is a North American species of flowering shrub in the daisy family known by the common name turpentine bush, or turpentine-brush. It is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico (Chihuahua).
Brickellia californica, known by the common name California brickellbush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae.
Androstephium breviflorum is a species of flowering plant known by the common names pink funnel lily and small flowered androstephium.
Brickellia arguta is a North American species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name pungent brickellbush. It is native to the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts of California, Nevada, Arizona, and Baja California.
Chaenactis glabriuscula, with the common name yellow pincushion, is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family. It is native to California and Baja California.
Enceliopsis nudicaulis is a North American species of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae known by the common name nakedstem sunray, or naked-stemmed daisy.
Hazardia brickellioides is a species of shrub in the family Asteraceae known by the common name brickellbush goldenweed. It is native to the Mojave Desert of California and Nevada, where it grows in rocky limestone habitat.
Lomatium mohavense is a species of flowering plant in the carrot family known by the common name Mojave desertparsley. It is native to southern California with a few outlying populations in Arizona, Nevada and Baja California. It is found in several types of mountain and desert habitat, including chaparral, woodland, and scrub, mostly from 2,000–7,000 feet (600–2,100 m) elevation.
Palafoxia arida is a species of flowering plant in the aster family, known by the common names desert palafox and Spanish needle.
Psorothamnus arborescens is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common name Mojave indigo bush.
Ribes velutinum is a species of currant known by the common name desert gooseberry.
Salvia greatae is a species of flowering plant in the mint family, Lamiaceae. Its common names include Orocopia sage and lavender sage.
Acleisanthes nevadensis is a species of flowering plant in the four o'clock family known by the common names desert moonpod and desert wing-fruit. It is native to a section of the southwestern United States encompassing southern Nevada and adjacent corners of Utah and Arizona. One occurrence has been observed in eastern California. The plant grows in desert habitat such as scrub and rocky washes. This herb produces several spreading stems up to about 30 centimeters in maximum length, sometimes from a woody base. The stems are covered in many leaves with fleshy oval or rounded blades up to 3 centimeters long which are borne on petioles. The herbage of the plant is coated in thick, wide, white, furry hairs, interspersed with shorter, flat hairs. Some hairs are glandular. Flowers occur in leaf axils. Each is a trumpet-shaped bloom with a narrow, tubular green throat up to 4 centimeters long and a round white corolla face about a centimeter wide, sometimes tinged yellow or greenish. There are five long, protruding stamens and a long style tipped with a spherical stigma. The fruit is a ribbed, hairy body with five broad, white wings.
Senecio mohavensis, known by the common name Mojave ragwort, is a species of flowering plant in the aster family.
Sonchus tenerrimus is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common name slender sowthistle. It is native to the Mediterranean region of southern Europe, northern Africa, and the Middle East. It has been found as well in several other locations around the world, historically in association with ship ballast in coastal regions. It has become naturalized in a few places, such as California in the United States and Baja California in Mexico.
Trichostema parishii is a species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common name Parish's bluecurls.
Xylorhiza cognata is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names Mecca-aster and Mecca woodyaster.
Media related to Xylorhiza tortifolia at Wikimedia Commons