xeric (dry)

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  • Allium acuminatum – tapertip onion

    • umbels with 10-40 flowers atop a tall scape
    • 6 magenta (or white) tepals per flower
    • few leaves and all withered prior to flowering
    • dry hillsides, sun-exposed rocky meadows and slope, volcanic areas

  • Astragalus purshii / woollypod milkvetch

    • low growing, silvery, compound leaves; no tendrils
    • magenta (or white) "pea-like" flowers with darker keel petal
    • "congested" inflorescence
    • found in very dry areas, not in shade

  • Bassia scoparia / burningbush

    • large, annual herb (forb)
    • leaves long-ish and narrow
    • inflorescence a highly branched spike with teeny green/yellow flowers
    • may form huge, invasive colonies
    • whole plant turns red in fall
    • a tumbleweed
    • especially in disturbed areas and wastelands in the Valley

  • Descurainia pinnata / western tansy mustard

    • another stupid yellow crucifer
    • erect stem, up to 30 inches
    • deeply lobed leaves, without petioles up-stem
    • often near or under sagebrush, otherwise dry, disturbed and crappy soils

  • Hesperostipa comata / needle and thread

    • widely spaced bunchgrass
    • glossy leaves, smooth stem
    • narrow inflorescence with long awns (hairs)
    • sharp, needle-like seed retaining the awn
    • drought tolerant

  • Heterotheca villosa / hairy goldenaster

    • yellow composite with 10-20 ray florets, orange-brown disk
    • hairy leaves and stems
    • blooms throughout season, often densely
    • disturbed and challenging habitats

  • Onobrychis viciifolia / sainfoin

    • forage legume, taller than alfalfa
    • pink pea-like flowers with striped banner petal and darker keel
    • spiky inflorescence (a raceme) blooming from bottom up - up to 50 flowers
    • pinnately compound leaves with single terminal leaflet
    • naturalized with sagebrush and mountain shrubs, but also in the central Valley

  • Packera cana / woolly groundsel

    • yellow, daisy-like blossoms with 8-13 ray florets ("petals")
    • golden, central disks
    • blossoms in flat-topped clusters of up to 15
    • mostly basal leaves - unlobed, hairy, ovate, up to 2 inches long
    • overall silvery appearance

  • Packera multilobata / lobeleaf groundsel

    • deeply lobed leaves, mostly at the base of the plant
    • bright yellow daisy-like flowers, 10-30 in a cluster per plant
    • orange-yellow disk florets
    • woodlands, foothills, and generally dry/ sandy/ rocky places.

  • Penstemon eatonii / firecracker penstemon

    • roadsides, especially revegetated by DOT
    • 2" brilliantly red, tubular flowers
    • mostly basal leaves, ovate to lanceolate, leathery

  • Phacelia hastata / silverleaf scorpionweed

    • flowers - dull white-ish/purple-ish, numerous in short, compact, coiled clusters
    • stamens extend well past petals
    • leaves - basal with prominent veins; usually covered with silvery hairs; usually entire
    • multiple flowering stems on a single plant
    • in a variety of habitats

  • Polygonum aviculare / prostrate knotweed

    • long, prostrate stems around a central point
    • copious red-edged white flowers
    • small green leaves
    • along roadsides, parking lots and wherever trampling occurs
    • an ugly weed you'll see on most of your walks around town

Showing all 12 results