Senecio mohavensis

Mojave ragwort

Family: Asteraceae · Type: annual · Native

Mojave ragwort is a California native annual herb found in the Mojave Desert bioregion in sandy and rocky washes and desert flats at elevations of 100 to 700 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces yellow flowers in small clusters with heads 3 to 15 millimeters long, often with a purple-tinged appearance. Growing 20 to 40 centimeters tall with a single stem that branches proximally or distally, it has a distinctive taproot and glaucous stems. Its fleshy leaves are ovate to obovate, 2 to 6 centimeters long, with coarsely lobed or irregularly toothed edges, and sessile with truncate to heart-shaped bases that clasp the stem. The fruit is 1.5 to 3 millimeters long and covered in fine hairs.

Habitat: Sandy, rocky washes, desert flats

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: 100-700 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.