Shrubs Around Las Vegas, Vegetation Around Las Vegas
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General: Basin Yellow Cryptantha (Cryptantha confertiflora) is a subshrub or perennial forb that grows to about 15 inches with upright, silvery basal leaves and flowering stalks topped with yellow flowers. All parts of the plant are hairy. Basin Yellow Cryptantha is an uncommon component of mountain vegetation communities in the Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub and Pinyon-Juniper Woodland) life zone. Around Las Vegas, look for this species out at Red Rock Canyon NCA and on lower slopes in the mountains, such as on Mt. Charleston in the Spring Mountains and in the Sheep Range in the Desert National Wildlife Range. |
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Family: Borage (Boraginaceae). Other Names: Yellow cryptantha, basin yellow catseye, roundleaf cryptantha, Oreocarya confertiflora. Plant Form: Perennial forb with a woody base, silvery basal leaves. Height: To about 15 inches. |
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Stem: None, other than the flowering stalk. Leaves: Oblanceolate, to about 3 inches long; leaf surfaces covered with hairs. Flowers: Blooms during spring and early summer. Inflorescence: dense head plus axillary clusters. Flower yellow, tubular with spreading lobes. Flowers age to white. Seeds: Nutlets. |
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Habitat: Dry, rocky soils, hillsides, ridges. Elevation: About 4,000 to 9,000 feet. Distribution: California to Utah and Arizona. Comments: |
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Oblanciolate leaves grow in a dense mass, mostly from the base, although there are a few leaves on the flowering stalks. |
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Flowers cluster at the end of stalks. |
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Usually the flowers look like they have five petals. The white flowers are getting old and drying out. |
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Sometime the petals appear to be fused into one large, flat face. |
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Sometimes the flowers look like they have only three petals. |
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Yellow flowers age to white. |
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Note: All distances, elevations, and other facts are approximate. Names generally follow the USDA database.
© 2012 Jim Boone; Last updated 090607
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