Candelabra-like in form; basal leaves not withering with flowers.
Stems branch below, earliest flowers commonly alternate and less well-developed than those from lower nodes; flowers yellow, orange at base; bracts green with white base, margins usually 3 to 7 lobed; erect, straight fruits that taper only near the base.
Habitat
Disturbed and open areas, from chaparral to pine woodlands.
Flower Characteristics
Short-stemmed or not stemmed; petals 5, yellow, orange at base, squared or rounded at petal tips; stamens 10 to 30, all with narrow filaments.
Leaf and Stem Characteristics
Basal leaves present; stemmed or not; blade lance-like to narrow, margins usually deeply to shallowly lobed, rarely smooth. Stem leaves stemmed or not stemmed, lance-like to narrow.
Fruit and Seed Characteristics
Nearly cylindric, mostly tapering only near base.
Hanging loosely, not winged, those in upper half of capsule are grain-like, several-sided, irregular in cross-section, the angles sharp, 15 to 35 per capsule in 2 rows.