Desert Marigold (Baileya multiradiata)

(Fig. 01)

(Fig. 01)

Picture Notes: The picture in (Fig. 01 was taken at the Las Vegas Springs Preserve on 04/17/2016. The pictures in (Figs. 02 & 03) were taken on 05/212010 on a daytrip to the Valley of Fire, near Overton, NV. It was the only plant of its kind visible in a very large open desert area. The picture in (Fig. 04) was taken on a hike to the Buffington Pockets in the Muddy Mountains.

Description: Desert Marigold (Baileya multiradiata) are annual flowers with relatively large, showy, yellow flowers that can turn the landscape yellow during a good year. The flower is a typical daisy (composite) flower. Desert Marigolds are common components of the spring wildflower display along washes and on bajadas in the Lower Sonoran (Creosote-Bursage Flats) and Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub) life zones. (Fig. 02) Typically an annual forb with basal leaves and upright flower stalks. Sometimes a perennial shrub to about 1-1/2 feet tall and 2-feet across. Its flower stems can grow to about 20 inches. Leafy parts usually to about 6 inches. Its flowers bloom in late spring to early summer, and sometimes again in the fall if conditions are right. The flower is a showy daisy-like flower (composite with disk and ray flowers), bright yellow to yellow-orange, to about 1-1/2 inches across. Inflorescence with one flower head per stem Flower: It likes dry, well-drained sandy, gravelly, and rocky soils on upper bajadas and moderate slopes in the lower mountains at elevations from about 2,000 to 5,000 feet.

(Fig. 03)

(Fig. 04)