Desert Holly
Dwarf Desertpeony
Acourtia nana
Photographed in Vekol Valley, Sonoran Desert National Mounument, Maricopa Co., Arizona. August 2008.
Photographed in Vekol Valley, Sonoran Desert National Mounument, Maricopa Co., Arizona. 28 March 2015.
PERENNIAL: Even when not blooming this distinctive plant is easy to
recognize. Just a few decimeters tall and normally growing in the partial shade
of desert trees. Several frail-looking but tough stems rise from a woody crown.
ARMED. The teeth of the leaf margins are nearly needle-like.
LEAVES: Alternate leaves are sharply toothed and serrate, really looking
like those of true holly. The petioles are very short.
RANGE: In the southern and southeastern portions of the Sonoran Desert
in Arizona and Mexico and ranging eastward into the Chihuahuan Desert. Look on
rocky slopes or high on wash banks in partial shade.
FRUIT: The achenes bare a crown of tawny awns.
FLOWERS: The flowering heads are of lavender to pink florets all with
two-lipped corollas. Fragrant. Mid spring.