Monthly Archives: September 2026

Desert Yellow Fleabane

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Desert yellow fleabane (Erigeron linearis) is a perennial with a thick base and a branching base.   It is sometimes called fine-leaved daisy or linear-leaved daisy.   Straight stems range from short to 30 cm tall.    Leaves are mostly basal, linear, often close to the stems, and hairy.   Terminal flowers are ray-and-disk pattern with bright yellow petals from a involucre bracts. 

yellow fleabane

The flowering season is usually in May and June on the dry slopes, rocky ridges,  and in the sagebrush grasslands.   After flowering, achenes form with short, hairy pappus, to be dispersed in the wind over summer and fall.     

desert yellow fleabane

 

Trailside, in Early September

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As the summer heat and smoke dissipated at the end of August, drought conditions carried on, with dry vegetation, shrinking lakes, dried-up wet zones, and wildflowers going to seed.    A few late-flowering species could still be spotted (curlycup gumweed, white prairie aster, sweet clover, and others), but the usual summer annual weeds also seemed to take over disturbed areas.  … Continue reading →

Showy Jacob’s-Ladder

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Showy Jacob’s-ladder (Polemonium pulcherrimum sp.) is a perennial herb growing from a taproot and a branched stem.  Clustered leaves are mostly basal and hairy.    The leaves are pinnately compound (featherlike in leaflets).    If handle leaves we will not a “skunky” odor.     The common name arises from the ladder-like shape of the leaves, a Biblical reference. Clusters of … Continue reading →