Jewelflower

Color: Lavender to white

Common name: Jewelflower
Latin name: Caulanthus cooperi
Family: BRASSICACEAE
Height: 12 to 30 inches tall.

Description: Stem often irregularly twisted or weakly twining, generally branched without hairs. Flower: 4 little-noticed wing-like petals come out of a green tube hanging from a thin stem with a dark purple cluster of buds at the tip of the stalk. Sepals 5–7 mm, not pouched below; petals 7–10 mm, yellowish or purplish aging white, margins thin, dry, pliable translucent or variously coloured, but not green, not wavy.
Leaf: < 6 cm, basal and without hairs.
Range: n Transverse Ranges, e Peninsular Ranges, s East of Sierra Nevada, Desert
Habitat: Open, sandy or gravelly soil, generally among shrubs.
Elevation: 300–2500 m.
Flowering time: Mar-Apr

Notes: Photographed Mar 7, 2008, Short Canyon, Mojave Desert, Kern County, Calif. A dicot, is a common annual herb that is native to California and is also found outside of California, but is confined to western North America.

Photos tips Most digital point-and-shoot cameras have a macro function - usually symbolized by the icon of a little flower. When you turn on that function, you allow your camera to get closer to the subject, looking into a flower for example. Or getting up close and personal with a bug. More on desert photography.

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