Peucephyllum schottii

Desert fir

Family: Asteraceae · Type: shrub · Native

Desert fir is a California native shrub found in the southeastern desert bioregion in rocky slopes and creosote-bush scrub at elevations below 1,400 meters. Flowering from December to June, this plant produces pale yellow to purple-tipped flowers in solitary discoid heads approximately 8 to 12 millimeters long. Growing as a rounded shrub up to 3 meters tall with densely leafy green stems, it has a distinctive branching structure. Its leaves are narrow, linear, and thick, ranging 1 to 2 centimeters long, with a resinous, gland-dotted surface that gives the plant a varnished appearance. The fruit is a dark, bristly seed 3 to 4 millimeters long with a straw-colored to red-brown pappus of fine bristles.

Habitat: Rocky slopes, washes, creosote-bush scrub

Bloom period: Dec-Jun

Elevation: < 1400 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.