WILDFLOWERS OF NEW MEXICO

Plume-like stems 1–4-feet tall are topped with long, dense, spike-like clusters of bright-yellow, tubular flowers with oblong, spreading petals and showy extended stamens. Note the long, slender, pods below the flowers.

FLOWER: April–September. Spike-like plumes of flowers with 4 oblong petals to 3/4-inch long (20 mm) bloom from the bottom of the stalk upward; a dense array of drooping to ascending pods develops below. Pods are 1 1/4–3 1/2 inches long (3–9 cm), smooth, slightly constricted between seeds.

LEAVES: Basal leaves reach 6-inches long (15 cm), pinnate with lobes cut to midrib, and wither by flowering. Stem leaves alternate , with petioles (stems) 1/4– 2 1/2-inches long (7–62 mm);  lower blades pinnate, upper blades broadly lance-shaped, to 6-inches long (15 cm).

HABITAT: Sandy, gravelly, shale, limestone, basaltic, selenium soils; sagebrush, mixed shrublands, grasslands, pinyon-juniper woodlands.

ELEVATION: 5,000–7,000 feet.

RANGE: AZ, CA, CO, ID, KA, MT, NM, NV, ND, OR, SD, UT, WY.

SIMILAR SPECIES: The tall plume with a dense, showy array of bright-yellow flowers and long seed pods distinguish this mustard. Green Prince’s Plum, S. viridiflora, in the Four Corners region, has  whitish to yellow flowers, clasping stem leaves, and broad basal leaves, usually with entire margins, present at time of blooming.

NM COUNTIES: NW quarter of NM in mid-elevation, dry habitats: Catron, Cibola, Colfax, Dona Ana, McKinley, Rio Arriba, San Juan, Sandoval, Torrance, Union.