Chorizanthe rigida

Devil's spineflower

Family: Polygonaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Devil's spineflower is a California native perennial found in the eastern Sierra Nevada and Mojave Desert regions in sandy or gravelly habitats at elevations of 60 to 1,900 meters. Flowering from February to June, this plant produces small yellow flowers in dense, compact clusters with rigid spiny involucres. Growing in a stiffly erect form 2 to 8 centimeters tall with few to no branches, it forms a compact, hairy plant. Its leaves range from ovate to widely elliptic at the base, transitioning to narrow linear or linear-lanceolate shapes higher on the stem, with tips hardening into sharp spines as the plant matures. The distinctive involucre develops three lanceolate lobes that become rigid spines, with the back lobe reaching 5 to 10 millimeters long.

Habitat: Common. Sand or gravel

Bloom period: Feb-Jun

Elevation: 60-1900 m

Bioregions: SNE, D

California counties: San Bernardino, Riverside, Inyo, Kern, San Diego, Imperial, Mono

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