Apiaceae (Carrot)
Cymopterus acaulis var. parvus
(Small spring-parsley)
Usually under 7 cm tall
Peduncles shortly than leaves, less than 4 cm
Yellow flowers
An early bloomer.
A narrowly restricted Utah endemic that only
occurs in Millard and Tooele counties,
typically on aeolian sand
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Apiaceae (Carrot)
Cymopterus purpurascens
(Basin white-cup spring-parsley)
5 to 15 cm tall
2-3 times pinnately dissected
glabrous basal leaves
Whitish bracts forms cup around inflorescence
White to purple flowers
An early bloomer.
Occurs in all Utah counties except Daggett, Davis,
Morgan, Summit, Wasatch and Weber;
occurs in other western states
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Portulacaceae (Purslane)
Lewisia rediviva
(Bitterroot)
Sausage-like, fleshy leaves
1 to 3 cm tall
Leaves 2-5 cm long
Rose or white flowers
Occurs mainly in western Utah, but also in
central Utah and in Daggett, San Juan and Washington counties;
occurs in other western states
Left: before flowering
Right: flowers hide leaves
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Polygalaceae (Milkwort)
Polygala subspinosa
(Cushion milkwort)
Subshrubs forming clumps
5 to 20 cm tall
Spine-like terminal branches
Pink-purple flowers with yellow keels
Somewhat widely distributed in western and southern Utah and
also in central Utah and in Duchesne and Uintah counties;
occurs in other western states
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Nyctaginaceae (Four-o'clock)
Tripterocalyx micranthus
(syn. Abronia micrantha)
(Sandpuffs)
Stems reddish, glandular, 1-6 dm
Flowers 5-15 per head
Perianth tube green to pink
Anthocarps 2-4 winged, veined and suffused with pink
Usually grows in sand, mixed desert scrub,
somewhat more concentrated in southeastern Utah, but
occurs also in the west desert, southern Utah generally,
and in the Uinta Basin; occurs in other western and central states
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Apiaceae (Carrot)
Lomatium grayi
(Narrowleaf lomatium, Milfoil lomatium)
Usually 15 to 60 cm tall, aromatic
Leaves borne at base, 3 to 5 pinnately dissected leaflets
Yellow petals
An early bloomer.
Two varieties occur in Utah: var. depauperatum occurring
in western Utah and adjacent Nevada, and var. grayi widespread and occurring in
other western states in dry, open, usually rocky places from valleys/foothills to midmontane.
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Labiatae or Lamiaceae (Mint)
Salazaria mexicana
(Paperbag bush, Bladder-sage, or Mexican bladdersage)
Not a sage!
Shrubs, 3-10 dm tall
Soft twigs, small entire green leaves oblong or lanceolate
2-lipped corolla, upper lip white to light violet, lower lip 3-lobed
and dark violet
Fruit becoming papery, inflated
In Utah only occurs in Washington Co. in lower elevation areas, sandy areas in
mixed desert shrub, blackbrush, Joshua tree, pinyon-juniper communities.
Also found in California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas and Mexico.
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Asteraceae (Composite or Sunflower)
Layia glandulosa
(Tidytips or White Layia)
Early blooming (typically May) composite
Annual
White 3-lobed ray flowers
Rays overlapping and appearing concentric or 5 or fewer and apart
Yellow disk flowers
Reddish stems with long spreading bristles
Plants may be only a few inches tall (2-5 cm) or as tall as a foot or more (3-5 dm)
In Utah it occurs in an elevational range of roughly 3700 to 6100 ft.
In southern Utah, most commonly found in Washington Co. but also occurs in Kane and
extreme southwestern San Juan Co. in desert shrub and pinyon-juniper habitats.
Distribution in south-central to northern Utah follows mainly the Wasatch Front in foothills, grasslands,
on dry open slopes. It once occurred in Salt Lake County primarily in the (4300) 4800 to 5300 foot range (City Creek Canyon and to east side
of Salt Lake Valley) but has not been collected since 1904 (A.O. Garrett, May 4, 1904 at 4700 ft.).
Also occurs in British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico.
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Chenopodiaceae (Goosefoot)
Halogeton glomeratus
(Halogeton, Saltlover)
Non-native
Annual, succulent herbs
Prefers saline soils
At first prostrate
Not spiny
Inconspicuous flowers
When in fruit (as pictured), branches ascending
Fruits papery, winged
Typically 8-30 cm tall
Introduced as a forage crop in the 1930's in northern Nevada but is poisonous to grazing animals, especially sheep. Quickly spread to
low elevation deserts of Nevada and Utah, and then from eastern Utah into other states, and has spread into much of Utah.
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