This guide is designed to help you identify desert wildflowers by color, scientific name, region and common name. Click on the color below, then find the wildflower pictures.

The pictures are sized to work on the iPod, iPhone and similar devices. With your iPod you will easily be able to identify wildflowers while in the desert. Links for downloads are on the bottom of this page.

Common Name - Scientific Name Index

Purple & Blue ~ Flowers --

Coulter's Lupine/Desert Lupine - Lupinus sparsiflorus
Sand Verbena - Abronia villosa
Mojave Aster - Xylorhiza tortifolia
Desert Willow - Chilopsis linearis
Blue Phacelia - Phacelia distans
Desert Lavender - Hyptis emoryi
Indigo Bush - Psorothamnus fremontii
Smoke Tree - Psorothamnus spinosus
Spanish Needles - Palafoxia arida
Chia - Salvia columbariae
Filaree Storksbill - Erodium cicutarium
Bigelow's Monkey Flower - Mimulus bigelovii

Pink, Red, & Orange ~ Flowers

Ocotillo - Fonquieria splendens
Englemann Hedgehog / Strawberry Cactus - Echinocereus engelmannii
Beavertail Cactus - Opuntia basilaris
Fairy Duster - Calliandra eriophylla
Desert Globemallow - Sphaeralcea ambigua
Desert Paintbrush - Castilleja chromosa
Chuparosa - Beloperone californica
Desert Five-Spot - Malvastrum rotundifolium
Pincushion Cactus / Fishhook Cactus - Mammillaria microcarpa
Desert Mariposa Lily - Calochortus kennedyi
Winged Dock - Rumex venosus

Yellow & Gold ~ Flowers

Creosote Bush - Larrea tridentata
Brittlebush - Encelia farinosa
Cinchweed - Pectis papposa
Desert Sunflower - Gerea canescens
Dune Sunflower - Helianthus niveus
Mexican Gold Poppy - Eschscholtzia mexicana
Desert Primrose / Yellow Cups - Camissonia brevipes
Wooly Daisy - Eriophyllum wallacei
Barrel Cactus - Ferocactus acanthodes
Englemann's Prickly Pear - Opuntia phaeacantha
Desert Dandelion - Malacothrix glabrata
Parry's Century Plant - Agave parryi
Golden Prince's Plume - Stanleya pinnata

White ~ Flowers

Saguaro Cactus - Carnegiea gigantea
Sacred Datura - Datura meteloides
Spectacle Pod - Dithyrea wislizenii
Desert Lily - Hesperocallis undulata
Dune Evening Primrose - Oenothera deltoides
Desert Chicory - Rafinesquia neomexicana
Desert Star - Monoptilon bellioides
Prickly Poppy / Thistle Poppy - Argemone pleicantha
Joshua Tree - Yucca brevifolia
Banana Yucca - Yucca baccata
Blazing Star - Mentzelia involucrata
Brown-eyed Evening Primrose - Camissonia claviformis
Narrow-leaved Popcorn Flower - Cryptantha angustifolia
Ghost Flower - Mohavea confertiflora
Mohave Yucca - Yucca schidigera
Soaptree Yucca - Yucca elati
Apache Plume - Fallugia paradoxa

If you want to download the wildflowers guide pictures to your computer, iPod or iPhone click on the links below.

Click here to download the White Wildflowers.

Click here to download the Purple and Blue Wildflowers.

Click here to download the Yellow and Gold Wildflowers.

Click here to download the Pink, Red and Orange Wildflowers.

Desert Plant & Wildflower Index
Wildflower Update: What's in Bloom This Week?
When Will the Wildflowers Bloom?
Curious Wildflower Names
Organ Pipe National Monument
Saguaro National Park
Death Valley National Park
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park
Joshua Tree National Park
Wildflower Hot Lines