General: Gravel Ghost (Atrichoseris platyphylla) is an annual forb that starts as a basal rosette of leaves that grow flat against the ground and blend in with the gravel in washes where they occur. Eventually, the flower stalk bolts upward, branches, and produces white sunflowers that lack the button in the center (ray flowers only).

Gravel Ghost is a fairly common component of desert vegetation communities during the spring. It can be found in dry, well-drained gravelly soils in washes in the Lower Sonora (Creosote-Bursage Flats) and Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub) life zones.

Family: Sunflower (Asteraceae).

Other Names: parachute plant, tobacco-weed.

Plant Form: Basal rosette with branched flower stalk.

Height: About 2-4 ft.

Stems: Thin and smooth; essentially no leaves.

Leaves: Basal only, smooth, blotchy gray and green colors.

Flowers: Blooms during spring. Flowers: Sunflower with ray flowers only. Flowers white, tips notched, each tip-let with red. Flower heads 1.5-2.5 cm diameter. Phyllaries in 2, 3, or 4 series.

Seeds:

Habitat: Dry, well-drained gravelly soils in washes.

Elevation:

Distribution: Southern California to Utah and Arizona.

Comments: Plants in Death Valley NP seem to differ from those in Desert NWR.