About Chorizanthe watsonii A.Gray
Chorizanthe watsonii A.Gray grows in many types of desert plant communities, on sandy to gravelly flats and slopes, and in mixed grassland. It is also found in Pinyon-Juniper woodland, Joshua Tree woodland, and sagebrush scrub. It is widely distributed in the warmer northern Mojave Desert and the cold Great Basin Desert, occurring at elevations between 300 and 2400 meters. This is a small plant that produces a woolly, erect stem that grows up to approximately 2 to 15 centimeters tall, and its leaves are 3 to 20 millimeters in length. Its inflorescence is a cluster of flowers, surrounded by five hairy greenish to reddish bracts. These bracts are tipped with hooked awns that measure 1 to 2 millimeters in length. The flower is yellow, measures 0.5 to 1 centimeter in diameter, and blooms from April or May to July or August, during the summer months in the United States. Specimens observed in the northern areas of this species' range, such as the Palouse Prairies of southeastern Washington, usually have three stamens.
