Lygodesmia grandiflora var. dianthopsis

Antelope island skeleton plant

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Native

Antelope island skeleton plant is a California native perennial found in desert dunes at elevations implied by its desert habitat. Flowering from May to July and October to November, this plant produces lavender-purple to white flowers with ligules 15 to 20 millimeters long. Growing 20 to 60 centimeters tall with stiffly erect or ascending stems that are simple or branched from the base, it develops from a deep vertical rootstock. Its leaves are predominantly linear, with basal and proximal cauline leaves 5 to 12 centimeters long and 2 to 6 millimeters wide, becoming reduced to linear bracts less than 10 millimeters long toward the stem tips. The fruit is 12 to 19 millimeters long, brown in color with a smooth back and grooved front surface.

Habitat: Desert dunes

Bloom period: May-Jul, Oct--Nov

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