Turtleback

Tetradymia ramosissima Torrey in W. H. Emory, Not. Milit. Reconn., 145. 1848

Annuals or perennials, 3–30 cm; lanate, furfuraceous. Stems erect and spreading, much branched. Leaf blades rounded-deltate to suborbiculate, 8–25 × 8–30 mm, margins toothed. Peduncles 3–50 mm. Involucres broadly turbinate to campanulate, 6–10 mm. Phyllaries 15–24, outer persistent, 5–6, apically spatulate, tips reflexed to squarrose, inner falling, 10–18, apically lanceolate, tips erect. Florets 16–32; corollas pale yellow, 4.5–5 mm. Cypselae 1.5–3.5 mm; pappi of 120–140 subequal bristles in 2–4 series, 3–4 mm. 2n = 34.

Flowering mostly in spring, otherwise sporadically, following rains. Sandy soils and desert pavements; -30–900 m; Ariz., Calif., Nev.; Mexico (Baja California, Sonora).