General: Smooth Desert Dandelion (Malacothrix glabrata) is an annual forb with long, thin basal leaves and flower stalks 5 to 15-inches tall. The flowers are typical daisy flowers with many yellow, square-tipped “petals” and usually a dark orange center.

Desert Dandelion is a common component of desert vegetation communities during the spring. It can be found on desert flats, in and along washes, and on bajadas into the lower mountains in the Lower Sonoran (Creosote-Bursage Flats) and Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub and Pinyon-Juniper Woodland) life zones.

Family: Sunflower (Asteraceae).

Other Names: Desert Dandelion, Smooth Desertdandelion.

Plant Form: Annual forb with basal flowers and upright flower stalks.

Height: Shin-high; typically grows 5 to 15 inches tall.

Stems: Flower stems have no leaves.

Leaves: Basal, long and narrow (thread-like), smooth.

Flowers: Blooms spring to early summer. Inflorescence: single flower head atop flowering stalk; flowerhead 1.5- to 2.5-inch diameter. Ray flowers: many, pale yellow, tips square with notches. Disk flowers: small and compact, sometimes dark orange.

Seeds: Achene.

Habitat: Dry, well-drained sandy, gravelly, and rocky soils on upper bajadas and moderate slopes in the lower mountains.

Elevation: To about 6,500 feet.

Distribution: Nevada to California, Oregon, Idaho, and Utah, and south into Mexico.

Comments: Similar species are Yellow tackstem (Calycoseris parryi) and Scalebud (Anisocoma acaulis).