General: Rosy-petalled Cliffbush (Jamesia americana var. rosea) is a shrub that tends to grow low (3 ft, max 6-ft) and can be recognized by gray bark; leaves that are opposite, oval, and toothed; and large white-rose, 5-petaled (rarely 6) flowers that are held in erect terminal panicles. Fresh stems, leaves, and flower buds are hairy. Fruits are dry capsules containing many small seeds.

A related species, Four-petalled Cliffbush (Jamesia tetrapetala), growing in the mountains of E Nevada and W Utah, has individual flowers (not panicles) with only four petals.

The species (Fivepetal Cliffbush) grows in mountains of the southwestern states, and this variety (Rosy-petalled Cliffbush) occurs in California and Nevada. Rosy-petalled Cliffbush is a uncommon component of vegetation communities in moist areas in our middle-elevation mountains in the Upper Sonoran (Pinyon-Juniper Woodland), Transition (Yellow Pine Forest), and Canadian (Pine-Fir Forest) life zones. Around Las Vegas, look for Rosy-Petalled Cliffbush up on Mt. Charleston and in the Sheep Range, especially on shaded soils and on the walls of limestone canyons in places such as Stanley B Spring, Big Falls, and above Cold Creek.

Family: Hydrangea (Hydrangeaceae); also called Cliff Jamesia, Jamesia, Cliffbush, and Waxflower