Flowers of the Southwest Deserts

by Natt N. Dodge

Geraea canescens

Common names: DESERT-SUNSHINE, DESERT-SUNFLOWER, DESERT GOLD, HAIRY-HEADED SUNFLOWER Arizona, California, and Texas deserts: (Geraea canescens). Yellow. January-June. Sunflower family. Size: An annual, 6 inches to 2 feet tall.

One of the showiest of the Sunflowers. Desert-sunflowers often form sweet-scented gardens of luxuriant bloom along roadsides and in sandy basins early in the spring.

Its seeds form a dependable source of food for small rodents, especially Pocket Mice, which store them in quantities. Wild bees and Hummingbird Moths are attracted to the fragrant flowers.

This species is common in areas of sandy soil below 1,500 feet in elevation from Utah and southeastern Colorado to southern Arizona and Sonora, Mexico. It is one of the showy roadside flowers of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.

YELLOW