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Brownplume Wirelettuce (Stephanomeria pauciflora)
Perennial Forbs Around Las Vegas, Vegetation Around Las Vegas
Brownplume Wirelettuce (Stephanomeria pauciflora)
Brownplume Wirelettuce at the edge of a wash

General: Brownplume Wirelettuce (Stephanomeria pauciflora) is an upright subshrub (doesn't really produce woody tissue) with many upright and interlocking stems arising from the base. The stems are green, and the leaves are small and inconspicuous. During spring, many white, "5-petaled" flowers are produced all over the plant.

Brownplume Wirelettuce is a common component of desert scrub communities on flats, washes, and bajadas in the Lower Sonoran (Creosote-Bursage Flats) and Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub) life zones. At higher elevations, it is less common.

Around Las Vegas, look for Brownplume Wirelettuce at Red Rock Canyon, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Mojave National Preserve, and on the Desert National Wildlife Range.

Family: Sunflower (Asteraceae).

Other Names: skeletonweed, wirelettuce, wire-lettuce.

Brownplume Wirelettuce (Stephanomeria pauciflora)
Stems, reduced leaves, and a flower

Plant Form: Many upright, interlocking branches from the base.

Height: To about 2 feet.

Stems: Upright, many stems from base. Stems smooth or dense hairy (tomentose).

Leaves: Small and inconspicuous on upper stems, often appear reduced to scales on the upper branches. Lower down, older leaves are long, narrow, with one to several points along the edges.

Flowers: Blooms in the spring and early summer, and then again in the fall if conditions permit. Inflorescence: flowers arise along upper stems. Flower is actually a sunflower type flowerhead, but without the disk in the center (i.e., ray flowers only). Usually 5 ray flowers; ray lavender-pink with square, notched tips. Phyllaries long.

Brownplume Wirelettuce (Stephanomeria pauciflora)
Brownplume Wirelettuce flower (sunflower without a central button)

Seeds: Elongate, brownish, with feathery plumes that carry the seeds on the wind.

Habitat: Desert scrub.

Elevation: To about 8,000 feet.

Distribution: Southwestern U.S. from California to Wyoming, to Texas, and south into Mexico.

Comments: After the growing season, the plant dies back, but retains its general shape. Sometimes the base breaks off, and the plant blows in the wind like a tumbleweed.

Brownplume Wirelettuce (Stephanomeria pauciflora) Brownplume Wirelettuce (Stephanomeria pauciflora)
Brownplume Wirelettuce (Stephanomeria pauciflora) Brownplume Wirelettuce (Stephanomeria pauciflora)
Brownplume Wirelettuce (Stephanomeria pauciflora)
Brownplume Wirelettuce: dense tangle of stems
Brownplume Wirelettuce (Stephanomeria pauciflora)
Brownplume Wirelettuce stems
Brownplume Wirelettuce (Stephanomeria pauciflora)
Brownplume Wirelettuce stems
Brownplume Wirelettuce (Stephanomeria pauciflora)
Brownplume Wirelettuce stems can be quite hairy
Brownplume Wirelettuce (Stephanomeria pauciflora)
Brownplume Wirelettuce leaf
Brownplume Wirelettuce (Stephanomeria pauciflora)
Brownplume Wirelettuce leaf (composite of dorsal and ventral surfaces)
Brownplume Wirelettuce (Stephanomeria pauciflora)
Brownplume Wirelettuce flowers and flower buds
Brownplume Wirelettuce (Stephanomeria pauciflora)
Brownplume Wirelettuce flowers and flower buds
Brownplume Wirelettuce (Stephanomeria pauciflora)
Brownplume Wirelettuce flower and flower buds
Brownplume Wirelettuce (Stephanomeria pauciflora)
Brownplume Wirelettuce flower: 5 ray flowers
Brownplume Wirelettuce (Stephanomeria pauciflora)
Brownplume Wirelettuce flower
Brownplume Wirelettuce (Stephanomeria pauciflora)
Brownplume Wirelettuce flower
Brownplume Wirelettuce (Stephanomeria pauciflora)
Brownplume Wirelettuce flower
Brownplume Wirelettuce (Stephanomeria pauciflora)
Brownplume Wirelettuce flower, phyllaries long
Brownplume Wirelettuce (Stephanomeria pauciflora)
Brownplume Wirelettuce seeds with feathery plume (plumose pappus)
Brownplume Wirelettuce (Stephanomeria pauciflora)
Brownplume Wirelettuce seed with feathery plume (plumose pappus)
Brownplume Wirelettuce (Stephanomeria pauciflora)
Brownplume Wirelettuce during winter
Brownplume Wirelettuce (Stephanomeria pauciflora)
Brownplume Wirelettuce: details of dead plant

Note: All distances, elevations, and other facts are approximate. Names generally follow the USDA database.
copyright; Last updated 230516

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