General: Desert Bearpoppy (Arctomecon merriamii), also called White Bearpoppy, is a perennial forb that tends to grow in limestone soils. The silvery-gray, hairy leaves grow in a clump on the ground. The large, white-poppy flowers grow atop long stems.

Desert Bearpoppy is a rare component of desert vegetation communities along washes and on bajadas in the Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub) life zone. Around Las Vegas, look for this species in Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument and in Desert National Wildlife Refuge.

Because it is rare, Desert Bearpoppy is considered to be a sensitive species.

Family: Poppy (Papaveraceae).

Other Names: White bearpoppy, white bear poppy, white bear-poppy, desert bear-poppy

Plant Form: Low-growing herb with upright flower stalks.

Height: Leaves to a few inches; flower stalks to about 18 inches.

Stems: None per se; flower stalks naked.

Leaves: Basal, generally wedge-shaped with rounded teeth at the end; hairy (hairs to 1/2 inch). Blades to 3 inches.

Flowers: Blooms late spring to early summer. Inflorescence: flowers solitary atop naked stalk. Petals large (to almost 2 inches), white.

Seeds: Fruits: 1 to 1-1/2 inch long capsule, oblong (typical poppy pod). Seeds tiny.

Habitat: Typically mud-hills habitats on desert flats, but also dry, well-drained gravelly and rocky soils on upper bajadas and moderate slopes in the lower mountains.

Elevation: 3,000 to 4,500 ft.

Distribution: California and southern Nevada

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