A succulent perennial bearing showy, yellow-orange or copper-colored flowers after summer rains. Flowers occur singly in leaf axils.
Petals orange, usually solitary, sometimes 2 to 3-flowered flat-topped clusters in leaf axils. Seed capsules open quickly when ripe.
Habitat
Washes, ravines, flats, dunes, slopes, benches, bluffs, ledges, often in grassland, scrub, or chaparral, sometimes along roadsides or in other disturbed sites. Also documented in Pinyon Juniper Woodlands.
Flower Characteristics
Flowers are 1 inch wide and have 5 yellow or orange petals. The orange petals often have red, flame-like streaks on them; opening in the morning and withering by late afternoon.
Leaf and Stem Characteristics
Leaves are succulent, alternate, and lanceolate (narrow oval shape tapering to a point at each end) or narrowly linear in shape. The stems are fleshy and red-brown in color. The roots are large and tuberous.
Fruit and Seed Characteristics
Ovoid to about 1/4 inch long.
Curved with ridges.