Vegetation Around Las Vegas, Small Wirelettuce (Stephanomeria exigua)

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Small Wirelettuce (Stephanomeria exigua)
Perennial Forbs Around Las Vegas, Vegetation Around Las Vegas

A small, wiry plant with small flowers

General: Small Wirelettuce (Stephanomeria exigua) is a annual forb that grows as a thin, wiry little plant with tiny flowers that blends into the landscape. This plant is a member of the sunflower family, but it has only ray flowers, and usually only a few ray flowers per flowerhead. Flowers are small, but size might be related to moisture conditions (more rain, bigger flowers).

Around Las Vegas, other species of Wirelettuce are more bush-like with more stems and a more solid form.

Around Las Vegas, look for Small Wirelettuce during spring in the Lower Sonoran (Creosote-Bursage Flats) and Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub) life zones. In some years, this plant is abundant along the Middle Oak Creek Trail.

Family: Sunflower (Asteraceae).

Thin and wiry, Small Wirelettuce fades into the landscape	Thin and wiry, Small Wirelettuce fades into the landscape
Thin and wiry, Small Wirelettuce fades into the landscape	Thin and wiry, Small Wirelettuce fades into the landscape
With little in the background, Small Wirelettuce shows wiry stems	With little in the background, Small Wirelettuce shows wiry stems
With little in the background, Small Wirelettuce shows wiry stems	Small Wirelettuce has open, wiry stems
Small Wirelettuce has open, wiry stems	Small Wirelettuce has open, wiry stems
Tiny leaves	Tiny leaves are twisted and crinkled
Small Wirelettuce with long, narrow flower buds	Small Wirelettuce with long, narrow flower buds
Small Wirelettuce flowers	Small Wirelettuce flowers
Small Wirelettuce flowerhead include only ray flowers	Small Wirelettuce flowerhead include only ray flowers
Phyllaries are long and narrow, purple with light edges	Phyllaries are long and narrow, purple with light edges
Small Wirelettuce flowerheads with 5 ray flowers	Small Wirelettuce flowerheads with 6 and 7 ray flowers
Small Wirelettuce flowerheads with 8 ray flowers	Small Wirelettuce flowerheads with 5 ray flowers

Note: All distances, elevations, and other facts are approximate. Names generally follow the USDA database.
; Last updated 240623

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