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Common Name: Sundancer Daisy
Other Common Names: Hymenoxys
Scientific Name: Hymenoxys scaposus
Family: Aster Family (Asteraceae)
Distribution: Intermountain West
Habitat: desert shrub and and pinyon juniper habitats, often on rock outcrops
Habit: perennial herb
Height: 0.5-1'
Spread: 0.5-1'
Foliage Color: bright green
Leaves: threadlike to lance-shaped, all basal.
Flower Color: golden yellow
Flower Form: like little sunflowers 1" across, solitary at tips of naked stems
Flowering Season: late spring to early summer

Cultural Requirements: Requires full sun and well-drained soils. Fully cold-hardy. Very drought hardy (i.e., needs no supplemental water after establishment on the Wasatch Front), but probably somewhat tolerant of overwatering.

Culture: Seeds are nondormant at dispersal in midsummer and germinate best at warm temperatures. They may be direct sown outdoors in spring, or sown into containers. Plants produced as container stock are relatively slow-growing and do not flower the first year.

Uses and Notes of Interest: This pretty little rock-garden plant has been seen occasionally in cultivation in places as far flung as California and Texas, but until now it never had a decent common name. Please excuse us, Robert Redford, if we have taken the liberty of coining one. The fragrant little sunflowers do seem to dance on their long stems. To collect seeds of this plant, wait until the heads dry out, then hand- strip.