Scientific Family
Brassicaceae
Other common names
western wallflower
Plant type
Forbs and Subshrubs
Origin
Native
Lifecycle
Biennial or perennial
Height
Up to 32 inches
Riparian
No
Short-lived perennial or biennial with erect stems, few branches, leaves few to numerous, flowers are in terminal, rounded clusters.
Stems erect and few-branched. Leaves few to many; covered with short appressed hairs and linear to oval with smooth or toothed edges. Flowers showy and yellow to orange or rarely purple, borne in dense terminal rounded clusters, petals to 5/8 inch long.
Habitat
Open slopes.
Plant Community
Pinyon Juniper Woodlands
Montane Conifer Forest
Interior Chaparral
Grasslands
Desert Scrub
Low elevation
3200
High elevation
9500
Flower Characteristics
Many small 1/4 inch wide flowers in a nearly round or cylindrical cluster up to 3-1/2 inches wide. Each flower has 4 oval petals, protruding from green male and female flower parts and long green sepals. Clusters bloom from the bottom up.
Flower color
Bright yellow to orange
Flower shape
Regular
Tubular
No
First bloom month
March
Last bloom month
September
Flower clusters
Rounded
Leaf and Stem Characteristics
Basal rosette of lance-shaped leaves with toothed margins and stalks. Stem leaves are narrow, sometimes toothed, stalkless. Basal leaves often withered by flowering. Leaves hairy on upper surfaces, hairs often star-shaped. Stems hairy.
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf color
Grayish-green
Leaf shape
Narrow
Leaf margin
Toothed
Leaves clasp
No
Leaf hairs
Leaves & stems
Spines
No
Fruit and Seed Characteristics
Erect to spreading 4-angled, capsules, 2 to 4 inches long and fleshy.
Fruit type
Capsule
Fruit color
Green then brown at maturity