General: Mojave Desertstar (Monoptilon bellioides) is a small, spreading annual forb in the sunflower family. The small flowers have white "petals" and yellow centers. The leaves are short and narrow with many stiff hairs, and the stems can be reddish.

Mojave Desertstar is a fairly common component of the spring wildflower display along sandy and gravely washes and bajadas in the Lower Sonoran (Creosote-Bursage Flats) and Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub) life zones. Around Las Vegas, look for this species at Lake Mead, the Mojave National Preserve, and Death Valley National Park.

Family: Sunflower (Asteraceae).

Other Names: Desert Star.

Plant Form: Spreading or mound-shaped; many thin branches.

Height: Usually about 2 inches, but spreading to about 10 inches.

Stems: Spreading along the ground; reddish.

Leaves: Short (to about 1/3-inch) and narrow; linear to obtuse; sparsely hairy.

Flowers: Inflorescence: flowerheads at end of stems. Ray flowers ("petals") white, about 5-8 mm long. Disk flowers yellow.

Seeds: Seed with a tuft of many hairs on the end (pappus with up to 12 bristles).

Habitat: Sandy and gravely washes and bajadas.

Elevation: To about 3,000 ft.

Distribution: California to Utah and south into northwestern Mexico.

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