General: Yuma Silverbush (Ditaxis serrata) is a stiff-stemmed subshrub with lanceolate, very hairy leaves. The stems are also covered with long hairs. The flowers are born in leaf axils with staminate flowers held above pistillate flowers. The flower petals are white. In the staminate flowers, the sepals and petals are short (to 2.5 mm). In the pistillate flowers, the sepals are longer than the petals.
Yuma Silverbush is an uncommon component of vegetation communities in dry, well-drained sandy and gravelly areas on desert flats and lower bajadas in the Lower Sonoran (Creosote-Bursage Flats) and Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub) life zones.
Around Las Vegas, look for this species in the southern California deserts and over into Arizona.
Family: Spurge (Euphorbiaceae). Formerly Argythamnia serrata. |