Alternate name: Showy Desert Marigold

Family: Asteraceae, Aster view all from this family

Description A grayish, woolly plant, branched and leafy mostly in the lower half, with brilliant yellow flowers in heads, one borne at the end of each of many nearly leafless flower stalks.
Flowers: heads 1 1/2—2” (3.8—5 cm) wide, with 25—50 oblong rays that after seed-set become papery and remain on head. No scales among the disk flowers.
Leaves: Broadly ovate, blades 1 1/2—3” (3.8—8 cm) long, pinnately divided into broad lobes, which are again divided or have roundish teeth.
Fruit: seedlike, pale tan or chalky white, lacking bristles or scales at top.
Height: 12—2-” (30-50 cm).

Flower April—October

Habitat Sandy or gravelly places in deserts, common along roadsides.

Range Se. California to s. Utah and w. Texas, south to n. Mexico.

Discussion Dense patches often form solid strips of yellow along miles of desert roadsides. In gardens a single plant grows into a perfect hemisphere of yellow, blooming throughout the hot summer and into fall. The name Marigold, given to several species of Asteraceae with sunny yellow or orange flowers, comes from “Mary’s Gold,” in honor of the Virgin.