General: Odora (Porophyllum gracile) is a spindly subshrub with a big odor -- walk past it and you will hear about it from people behind you. The leaves are long and narrow, and the flowerheads have long sepals and rayless, white-and-purple flowers. The plant has the general color of purple. The long sepals are dotted with elongate, purple glands.

Odora is a fairly common component of vegetation communities on dry, rocky places in the Lower Sonoran (Creosote-Bursage Flats) and Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub) life zones.

Family: Sunflower (Asteraceae)

Other Names: Slender Poreleaf, Porophyllum caesium, P. junciforme, P. nodosum, P. putidum, P. vaseyi.

Plant Form: Usually an upright, small, spindly shrub

Height: to about 2 feet tall

Bark:

Stems: green, glabrous

Leaves: About 1/2 to 2-1/2 inches long, narrow, linear, entire, glaucous

Flowers: Flowerheads at the end of stem. Sepals long, gland dotted. Flowerhead rayless, flowers white and purple.

Seeds:

Habitat: Rocky slopes

Elevation: to about 4,000 ft

Distribution: California to Utah and Texas, and south into Mexico.

Comments: stinky!