Yellow cups
Camissonia brevipes
Color: Yellow
Common name: Yellow cups
Latin name: Camissonia brevipes
Family: ONAGRACEAE
Height: 1-24 inches tall
Description: Inflorescence nodding, petals 3–18 mm, petals yellow, bases ± red-dotted;
Leaf: Basal rosette
Range: Desert
Habitat: Sandy or rocky slopes, washes, creosote-bush scrub, Joshua-tree woodland
Elevation: -70–1800 m.
Flowering time: Mar-May
Notes: Photographed Feb. 8, 2004, Johnson Valley, north of Lucerne Valley, San Bernardino County, Calif. Common dicot, is an annual herb that is native to California and is also found outside of California, but is confined to western North America. Distribution outside California: to w&s Nevada, sw Utah, w Arizona. In years with just the right amount of rainfall, the landscape can be carpeted with this wonderful yellow flower.
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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