Proboscidea althaeifolia

Desert unicorn-plant, Desert Unicorn-Plant

Family: Martyniaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.3

Desert unicorn-plant is a California native perennial found in southeastern Mojave Desert and southeastern Sonoran Desert in sandy places at elevations below 1,000 meters. Flowering from May to August, this plant produces yellow to orange flowers with darker markings, blooming in clusters that generally exceed the leaf height. Growing with decumbent stems and a distinctive fusiform, tuber-like yellow taproot, it develops broad-ovate leaves 3 to 7 centimeters wide with palmately 3 to 5 lobes and crenate edges. Its leaves are distinctively shaped, broadly rounded or deltate, with soft scalloped margins that create an intricate leaf profile. The fruit develops approximately 1 centimeter wide with a lanceolate body and contains seeds 6 to 7 millimeters long.

Habitat: Sandy places

Bloom period: May-Aug

Elevation: < 1000 m

Bioregions: se DMoj, DSon

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