Jewelflower
Caulanthus cooperi
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.
We have an online wildflower field guide that is designed to help you identify desert wildflowers by color, scientific name, region and common name. The pictures are sized to work on the iPod, iPhone, iPad and similar devices. With your iPod or phone you will easily be able to identify wildflowers while in the desert. Links for downloads are on the bottom of the Wildflower Field Guide page.
Photo 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 for each wildflower covered, with a discussion of the wildflower. 210 pages with 200 color photos. More...
What's Blooming Now - Check the Wildflower Reports
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