Desert candle
Caulanthus inflatus
Color: Maroon to purple
Common name: Desert candle
Latin name: Caulanthus inflatus
Family: BRASSICACEAE
Height: 8-20 inches
Description: Usually inflated smooth stem gives the plant its unique appearance. Flowers are darker in bud, petals 8-14mm purplish especially on veins, generally wavy edges are thin, dry, pliable translucent or variously colored, but not green.
Leaf: Basal 2–7 cm, ± smooth to finely toothed especially toward tips, tapered to short. The upper leaves of the desert candle are clasping.
Range: s Sierra Nevada Foothills (Kern Co.), w edge c&s San Joaquin Valley, Inner South Coast Ranges, n Western Transverse Ranges (± uncommon in preceding), sw Mojave Desert (common).
Habitat: Open, sandy plains to rocky slopes.
Elevation: 150–1500 m.
Flowering time: Mar–May
Notes: Photographed Mar-Apr 2005, Mojave Desert, near Harper Dry Lake, north of Barstow, San Bernardino, Calif. A dicot, is an annual herb that is native to California and is endemic (limited) to California alone.
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.
Mojave Desert wildflowers This book is the standard by which all other wildflower books are measured. The author, Jon Mark Stewart, has combined super photography with concise information. This book has an entire color page to each wildflower covered, with a discussion of the wildflower. 210 pages with 200 color photos. More...
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