Brittle Bush
Encelia farinosa
Spiny Happlopappus
Machaeranthera pinnatifida
Common to abundant shrub on rocky bajadas, roadsides and wash banks. Also a very popular component of xeriscapes. Very showy yellow flowers appear by mid spring. Can also bloom late summer and fall. Silvery-green leaves. Mostly about 1 meter tall. Detailed Description
Mostly herbaceous perennial. Common at upper elevations in Sonoran Desert scrub as well as chaparral and grassland. Highly variable in size of flowers and degree of spinyness. Prominent yellow disc and many fine rays. Detailed Description
Desert Marigold
Baileya multiradiata
Sand Wash Groundsel
Senecio flaccidus
All yellow daisy flowers are large and showy. Leaves fuzzy pubescent. Common in Sonoran Desert washes and along roadsides. Xeriscape gardens. Detailed Description
Yellow daisy flowers with narrow rays. Conspicuous, numerous white bristles on mature seed heads. Medium sized shrub of washes and roadsides. Detailed Description
Lemmon's Ragwort
Senecio lemmonii
Trans-Pecos Thimblehead
Hymenothrix wislizeni
Mostly herbaceous perennial of rocky slopes, Yellow rays and yellow disc florets. Seeds with fine white bristles. Tips of phyllaries dark. Detailed Description
Numerous bright yellow heads on tall slender herbs appearing after summer rains. Leaves divided into some two dozen linear segments. Detailed Description
Goldeneye
Viguiera deltoidea
Paper Flower
Psilostrophe cooperi
A fairly common shrub on rocky bajadas and wash banks. Flowers similar to Brittle Bush and appear at same time of year, but tend more to orange-yellow. Triangular to heart-shaped leaves are harshly gritty in texture and are darker green. Mostly about 1 meter tall. Detailed Description
Mostly herbaceous perennial with a woody crown. Leaves are linear and flower rays are bright lemon yellow. Blooms mid to late spring. After blooming the ray flowers remain attached to the heads, bleach almost white, and become papery. Common along eastern bounds of the Sonoran Desert. Detailed Description
Goldenhead
Acamptopappus spherocephalus
Trixis
Trixis californica
This shrub is fairly common in north and west portions of the Sonoran Desert blooming in spring. Flowers have bright yellow disc flowers, but no ray flowers. Nearly linear leaves and stems dark green. Mostly about 1 meter tall. Detailed Description
Common late spring bloomer with bright yellow flowers. Almost always growing in shade of desert trees on wash banks and rocky slopes. Leaves are dark green and remain verdant looking well into drought. Flower heads are tall and narrow. Mostly herbaceous perennial with a woody crown. Detailed Description
Silver Puffs
Microseris linearifolia
San Felipe Marigold
Adenophyllum porophylloides
Spring annual with yellow dandelion-like head on a tall stem followed by a head of silvery scales. Common upland Sonoran Desert habitat on rocky slopes/wash banks. Detailed Description
Flower head tall with maroon and orange disc flowers. Fairly common on wash banks and rocky slopes blooming in mid to late spring. Pinnately dissected leaves. Intense terpene odor when crushed. Detailed Description