Baileya pauciradiata

Colorado desert marigold

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Native

Colorado desert marigold is a California native perennial found in the Colorado Desert bioregion in sandy desert soils, especially dunes, at elevations below 1,700 meters. Flowering from December to June and October, this plant produces pale yellow ray flowers 4 to 10 millimeters long in small clusters of 2 to 3 flower heads. Growing with loosely branched stems 1 to 7.5 decimeters tall that are generally branched above the base, it has a somewhat tomentose appearance. Its cauline leaves range 4 to 14 centimeters long, linear-oblong to lanceolate, and can be entire or divided into linear lobes. The fruit is 4 to 5 millimeters long, narrowly club-shaped with even ribs.

Habitat: Sandy desert soils, especially dunes

Bloom period: Dec-Jun, Oct

Elevation: < 1700 m

Bioregions: D

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.