Rafinesquia neomexicana A. Gray
Desert chicory, California chicory, New Mexico plumseed
Kingdom Plantae Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
Subkingdom Tracheobionta Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division Magnoliophyta Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class Magnoliopsida Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves
Subclass Asteridae A large class that encompasses asters
Order Asterales Flowering plants with a central disk flower and surrounding petals, like daisies
Family Asteraceae The aster family, which also includes daisies and sunflowers; from the Greek ἀστήρ, “star,” for the star-shaped flowers
Genus Rafinesquia Named for polymath Constantine Samuel Rafinesque, who made contributions to anthropology, biology, geology, and linquistics
Species neomexicana “Of or from New Mexico”
About plant names...
Desert chicory is native to western North America.
Identification: This chicory is 6-20″ (15-50 cm) in height.
Flowers are about 1½″ (3.8 cm) wide, white, tinged violet on the undersides. Outer petals have five
deep serrations at the petal ends, typical of chicories. Leaves are dark green, up to six inches long near the base, getting
shorter further up the stem. Stems are erect, smooth, and gray-green in color. Sap is milky.
Online References:
George and Audrey DeLange's Arizona wildflower site
Southeastern Arizona Wildflowers and the Plants of the Sonoran Desert
CalPhotos
Oceanlight.com, a natural history stock photography site by Phillip Colla
Wikimedia Commons
The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Vascular Plants of the Gila Wilderness
SEINet—the Southwest Environmental Information Network
EFloras
Blue flowers are Phacelia distans . · 2/28/2010 · Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California · ≈ 11 × 7″ (27 × 18 cm)
Rafinesquia neomexicana description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 7 Oct 2021.
© FloraFinder.org. All rights reserved.
2/28/2010 · Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California · ≈ 9 × 6″ (23 × 15 cm)
2/28/2010 · Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California · ≈ 6 × 4″ (15 × 10 cm)
2/28/2010 · Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California · ≈ 14 × 9″ (35 × 23 cm)
Range:
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