Manybristle Chinchweed (Pectis papposa)

(Fig. 01)

Picture Notes: I captured these shots (Figs. 01 & 02) while on a hike to the Highland Range in Eldorado Valley along Route 95, south of Boulder City. The monsoon blooms occurring now in the northern Mojave are as rare as the rain which brought them. Currently the entire Eldorado Valley south of Boulder City, as well as Cottonwood Valley on the way to Pahrump is blanketed with yellow from these blooms. As a result of our recent heavy rains, the desert has quickly responded with a late-summer show of yellows and greens that are only seen a few times in a generation.

Description: Chinchweed (Pectis papposa) is a summer blooming annual plant which is found across the desert southwest from New Mexico to California and northern Mexico (in the Sonoran Desert and the Chihuahuan Desert) at elevations below 6,000 feet. With surprising promptness after the first summer rain, the desert floor is carpeted with the small yet bright yellow flowers. Its life zone is the sandy, dry areas of desert plains to rising foothills. Though the individual flowers are smaller than a dime, each ‘patch’ can spread out to more than a foot.  It often has the aroma of lemons leaving an citrus on your fingers when you touch it. A related plant is Goldfields, Lasthenia gracilis Asteraceae.

(Fig. 02)