Blue Mustard-Chorispora tenella

This purple flower had me scratching my head, poring through guides and keys, and trying to figure out what the heck it was. I determined it's in the Mustard Family (Brassicaceae), with its radially symmetrical flowers with parts in fours--four sepals and four petals, and flowers on a raceme. But then I was stuck for awhile.

Fortunately, I eventually found the answer, it's Blue mustard, also called musk mustard or purple mustard (Chorispora tenella). One of the reasons I had such a hard time identifying it is that many pictures show it being very tall, and the specimens I saw were no more than about six inches tall.

I first saw it mixed in with some grass outside the playground, so I guessed it was probably nonnative, given that most of the flowers in town seem to be nonnative. Sure enough, blue mustard is a native to Russia or southwestern Asia.

Although it's a pretty flower, it's reported to give off an unpleasant odor. I didn't notice it, so perhaps the odor gets stronger as the plant gets older.

Later I saw another patch of the flowers, with much larger leaves. 

One of the resources I'm using to help identify the flora of this area is this key, which is gradually being populated with photos to help make it more useful. 

To learn more about blue mustard, click here.

Desert Indian Paintbrush-Castilleja angustifolia

The bright red of desert Indian paintbrush (Castilleja angustifolia, sometimes Castilleja chromosa) is livening up the sagebrush hills near my house. Indian paintbrush has classically been called part of the Figwort or Snapdragon Family (Scrophulariaceae) but has more recently been reassigned by some botanists in the Broomrape Family (Orobanchaceae).

It is a perennial plant, common throughout western North America. Often several different species of Castilleja can be found relatively close together. They are considered to be hemiparasitic, growing close to shrubs with deeper root systems from which they take water and nutrients.

For more information, click here.

Nevada Biscuitroot-Lomatium nevadense

We're going to go back to the early-blooming Carrot Family (Apiaceae) today, and even back to a genus we saw earlier in the week, Lomatium. This low-growing plant is easy to identify with its highly dissected leaves and small form. This beautiful white flower with purple highlights is Nevada Biscuitroot, also called Nevada parsley and Nevada lomatium (Lomatium nevadense). 

I couldn't find much information online about it, but there's a little here.

I also found a similar looking plant with seed pods already forming. By the leaves I first thought it was a lomatium, but after looking carefully at a key and some photos, I think it's more likely to be a cymopterus. I will try to hunt down what it is. I thought the seed pods were interesting enough to include now before I have a definitive identification.

Greasewood--Sarcobatus vermiculatus

The other day I noticed the tiny leaves emerging from the greasewood (Sarcobatus vermiculatus), Sarcobatus Family (Sarcobataceae). This shrub is deciduous, losing its leaves in the late fall and regrowing them in the spring. It will also lose its leaves if it doesn't have enough water. Greasewood is considered a phreatophyte, a deep-rooted plant that gets a considerable amount of water from the underlying water table. Roots can be up to about 40 feet deep, so a stand of greasewood is indicative of a shallow water table. Greasewood is considered a halophyte, a salt lover, and is often found around the edges of dry playas.

Greasewood has long thorns, sometimes about two inches long, which is long enough to puncture a car tire. Consider yourself forewarned and don't go driving on greasewood!

Here's a photo of greasewood in winter, with no leaves.

And in spring, summer, and fall, the bright green of the greasewood livens up the desert landscape. For more information about greasewood, click here.

Desert Biscuitroot-Lomatium foeniculaceum var. fimbriatum

After seeing so many nonnatives blooming, I was pleasantly surprised to see a native flower. the flowers on an umbel (sort of like an upside-down looking umbrella with many supports) are characteristic of the Carrot Family (Apiaceae), and this is Desert Biscuitroot (Lomatium foeniculaceum var. fibriatum). Other names are desert parsley and fennel-leaved lomatium.

It's not a very large plant, rarely getting taller than 15 cm. It's an early bloomer, usually appearing in April and May. I first saw it 4/09/09 in pinyon/juniper habitat.

The individual flowers are tiny, but seen together they make a pretty picture.

For more information about desert biscuitroot, click here.

Filaree-Erodium cicutarium

Filaree (Erodium cicutarium), also called common stork's-bill, is a common desert plant, although its fern-looking leaves might make it seem out of place at first. It is out of place, an introduced weed from Eurasia. Nevertheless, harvester ants use the seeds and the plant is food for larvae of the Brown argus butterfly.

The flowers have five petals and are quite pretty. This plant is a member of the Geranium Family (Geraniaceae). For more information about filaree, click here.

Bur Buttercup-Ceratocephala testiculata

This pretty little yellow flower is in the Buttercup Family (Ranunculaceae--from Latin for frog)--also called the crowfoot family because of the divided leaves. The pretty flower transforms into a sticky bur, thus the common name, bur buttercup (Ceratocephala testiculata). 

It's a tiny plant, usually growing no more than a few inches high, in close proximity to other bur buttercups. It often grows along roadsides and waste areas, but I also found quite a few growing under pinyon pines and Utah junipers.

This annual flower is native to southeastern Europe. It contains a compound that is poisonous to sheep.

Bur buttercup is one of the earliest bloomers, usually showing its color when temperatures reach 45-50 degrees. Although the plant is small on the surface, its root more than doubles the length of the plant. For more information about bur buttercup, click here.