Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Emory's Rock Daisy

Emory's rock daisy,
also known as the rock daisy and rock lily (Perityle emoryi) is a member of the sunflower family and is found in desert plains, slopes and washes in Southern California (as well as occasionally in coastal regions), extreme southeastern Nevada and southwestern Utah, mid to western Arizona and northern Mexico. It can also be found on the western coast of South America, in Chile and Peru. The rock daisy generally has 8 to 12 white rays or petals and a yellow disk
and it is very tiny, the head generally no more than a centimeter wide. It can have simple to multi-branched stems and alternately arranged leaves with blades of various shapes which are toothed or divided into lobes. 
It is usually hairy and glandular in texture. One site says that it can be most commonly found in dry streambeds and among granite boulders.
I have been on the bajada south of the Eagle Mountains three times this year and have only seen one of these plants, in a small ravine, among granite rocks, coming off the slope of a hill.

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