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Desert Chicory (Rafinesquia neomexicana)
Annual Forbs Around Las Vegas, Vegetation Around Las Vegas
Desert Chicory (Rafinesquia neomexicana)
Typical habit: growing up through a shrub (or other nurse plant)

General: Desert Chicory (Rafinesquia neomexicana) is a spring wildflower with fairly large, white, daisy flowers without a disk in the center (ray flowers only). The center of the flower might be marked with a small spot of yellow or red. The ends of the outer ray flowers (the “petals”) are square and deeply notched.

Desert Chicory are fairly common components of the spring wildflower display along sandy and gravely washes and bajadas in the Lower Sonoran (Creosote-Bursage Flats) and Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub) life zones.

Family: Sunflower (Asteraceae).

Other Names: Wild chicory, New Mexico plumseed.

Desert Chicory (Rafinesquia neomexicana)
Ray flowers only, outer flowers deeply notched

Plant Form: Upright annual forb with white, disk-less daisy flowers

Height: To about 15 inches.

Stems: Flower stems long and lanky.

Leaves: Cauline leaves oblong, 1-6 inches, deeply lobed. Terminal cauline leaves linear. Clasping.

Flowers: Blooms in the spring. Daisy flower without disk flowers. 1-5 flowerheads per stem. Outer ray flowers with deeply notched petals.

Phyllaries in two ranks. Outer (basal) short, spreading or reflexed. Inner (main) phyllaries long, green with yellow edges, held against the flowers.

Seeds: achene

Desert Chicory (Rafinesquia neomexicana)
Two ranked phyllaries: Outer short reflexed; Inner long straight

Habitat: Dry, well-drained sandy, gravelly, and rocky soils on upper bajadas and moderate slopes in the lower mountains. Plants often grow up from beneath a nurse plant.

Elevation: To about 4,500 feet.

Distribution: California to southwestern Utah and west Texas, south into northern Mexico.

Comments: This species often grows up through overlying shrubs, using the shrub for support.

Desert Chicory (Rafinesquia neomexicana)
Desert Chicory growing under a tree
Desert Chicory (Rafinesquia neomexicana)
Desert Chicory under the tree
Desert Chicory (Rafinesquia neomexicana)
Desert Chicory usually grows up through other shrubs
Desert Chicory (Rafinesquia neomexicana)
Desert Chicory does not require a nurse plant
Desert Chicory (Rafinesquia neomexicana)
Cauline leaves oblong, 1-6 inches long, deeply lobed.
Desert Chicory (Rafinesquia neomexicana)
Clasping cauline leaves
Desert Chicory (Rafinesquia neomexicana)
Root with cauline leaves
Desert Chicory (Rafinesquia neomexicana)
Lower cauline leaves
Desert Chicory (Rafinesquia neomexicana)
Lower cauline leaves
Desert Chicory (Rafinesquia neomexicana)
Terminal cauline leaves linear
Desert Chicory (Rafinesquia neomexicana)
Small, spiky leaves and flower bud
Desert Chicory (Rafinesquia neomexicana)
Small, spiky leaves and flower bud
Desert Chicory (Rafinesquia neomexicana)
Flower bud
Desert Chicory (Rafinesquia neomexicana)
Phyllaries long, with green stripes
Desert Chicory (Rafinesquia neomexicana) Desert Chicory (Rafinesquia neomexicana)
Desert Chicory (Rafinesquia neomexicana) Desert Chicory (Rafinesquia neomexicana)

Note: All distances, elevations, and other facts are approximate. Names generally follow the USDA database.
copyright; Last updated 240619

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