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Desert Gold (Geraea canescens)
Annual Forbs Around Las Vegas, Vegetation Around Las Vegas
Desert Gold (Geraea canescens)

General: Desert Gold (Geraea canescens) is a desert annual with a basal rosette of leaves and a tall, branching flower stalk with several golden-yellow flowers per branch. The "petals" are broad and bright yellow, while the center are darker yellow-orange. These are one of the main flowers that paint the bottom of Death Valley yellow after a wet winter.

Desert Gold sometimes is the dominant component of vegetation communities on desert flats and on 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 Death Valley region.

Family: Sunflower (Asteraceae).

Desert Gold (Geraea canescens)

Other Names: Desert-Sunflower, Hairy Desert Sunflower, Desert Sunflower.

Plant Form: Annual herb with basal leaves and a tall flower stalk.

Height: Flower stalk to about 2 feet.

Stems: Single or branched.

Leaves: Blades long and narrow to elliptical, to about 5-inches long, margin generally entire.

Desert Gold (Geraea canescens)

Flowers: Blooms during spring and fall. Inflorescence: flowerheads, few to many in panicles. Flowers: large, daisy-like flower with golden-yellow ray flowers and orange disk flowers.

Seeds: Small achene (small sunflower seed).

Habitat: Dry, well-drained sandy and gravelly soils on bajadas and moderate slopes.

Elevation: Below about 4,000 feet.

Distribution: California to southwestern Utah and western Arizona, and south into northern Mexico.

Desert Gold (Geraea canescens)
Dry year (south end of Death Valley; view N)
Desert Gold (Geraea canescens)
Wet year (south end of Death Valley; view N)
Desert Gold (Geraea canescens) Desert Gold (Geraea canescens)
Desert Gold (Geraea canescens) Desert Gold (Geraea canescens)
Desert Gold (Geraea canescens) Desert Gold (Geraea canescens)
Desert Gold (Geraea canescens) Desert Gold (Geraea canescens)
Desert Gold (Geraea canescens) Desert Gold (Geraea canescens)
Desert Gold (Geraea canescens) Desert Gold (Geraea canescens)
Desert Gold (Geraea canescens) Desert Gold (Geraea canescens)
Desert Gold (Geraea canescens) Desert Gold (Geraea canescens)
Desert Gold (Geraea canescens) Desert Gold (Geraea canescens)
Desert Gold (Geraea canescens) Desert Gold (Geraea canescens)
Desert Gold (Geraea canescens) Desert Gold (Geraea canescens)

Note: All distances, elevations, and other facts are approximate. Names generally follow the USDA database.
copyright; Last updated 220113

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